Dining with colleagues in the cafeteria of the Massachusetts General Hospital, Dr. Stephen Goldfinger expressed his frustration about the strange illness of a patient he had recently seen. She had attacks of fever and abdominal pain that seemed to come out of nowhere.  Her attacks were brief, lasting 1-3 days, but were so severe that she became bed-ridden during these episodes.  Although the woman was otherwise healthy, a severe depression ensued from the unpredictable, debilitating illness that plagued her life every few weeks.

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