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At seven p. m. on March 21, 1999, I was called to see a 52-year-old man complaining of sudden cold and severe gas since lunch. I knew this patient as a diabetic with hypertension and obesity. His brother had died suddenly less than a year earlier, following myocardial infarction.

Being in charge of an ICU, I have some experience in dealing with situations similar to that described by Dr Bawaskar. Sudden development of a potentially fatal illness in a healthy person can be very disturbing to the relatives, especially if the patient happens to be young. In such a situation,...