Today's "in" maladies have certain common characteristics: controversy over the extent to which the ailment exists; symptoms so variable that diagnosis is difficult; no simple sure cure, so that everyone from surgeons to quacks feels free to offer therapy. And oh, yes, it helps if someone famous suffers from the affliction. Hypoglycemia fit the bill in the 1970s. The '80s have brought two new worries, fatigue syndrome and something known as TMJ, a painful condition that affects the joints of the jaw.
Once dismissed by doctors as "all in the head," TMJ (short for temporomandibular-joint disorder) is now recognized as a...
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