No flying for Greg today, owing to a ‘bilious attack’.
Diary
Wednesday July 24th. Had a bilious attack, & a day off.
Bilious Attack
So what exactly is that? Collins English Dictionary defines this medical term from another era as follows:
Bilious Attack (British)
[pathology, obsolete]
a group of symptoms consisting of headache, abdominal pain, and constipation
Quite possibly what Greg suffered was a migraine attack. In migraine, a moderate-to-severe headache (typically on one side of the head only; the word ‘migraine’ derives from ‘hemicranium’) is often accompanied by gastric disturbance including reduced gut motility.
Greg was prone to migraines in later life – a tendency which he passed on the two generations immediately after him (ah, well). But he swore that he had a remedy that always caused a migraine attack to abort: a stiff glass of whisky. Sadly, it never worked for me!