Stories of baffling symptoms and elusive diagnoses from the front lines of medicine that are “like a real-life episode of House” (Publishers Weekly). “Vital Signs,” a popular column featured in Discover magazine, has long been a favorite of readers, showcasing fascinating new tales of strange illnesses and diseases that baffle doctors and elude diagnosis. Each tale is true and borders on the unbelievable. It’s no wonder that throughout the years the column has become an unofficial textbook for medical students, interns, doctors, and anyone interested in human illness and staying healthy. Now, physician and “Vital Signs” editor Robert Norman has compiled the very best of the series into an intriguing and suspenseful collection of forty case studies. A young woman carries a baby that wasn’t her own—and wasn’t even a human; Aretha Franklin gives a physician the insight needed to save a life; a modern gynecologist faces an ancient disease. These cases and more, representing a wide variety of unique medical anomalies and life-or-death situations, take you to the front lines of medicine and into the gripping detective work that doctors do. You’ll never look at a “routine check-up” the same way again.