Medicine: Queueitis

Tired of standing in line to buy food and clothing, British housewives last month sent an “end-the-queue” petition to the Government (TIME, July 23). Now they have evidence that standing in line with market baskets really makes them sick. The British Journal of Physical Medicine and Industrial Hygiene last week published a definition of “queueitis.”

Chief feature of the disorder is a small, tender, fibrous nodule under the skin near the top of the victim’s shoulder blade.

Symptoms: “Pain in the shoulder region, usually going down the upper arm as far as the elbow, and frequently . . . pain or tingling or both in the palm and fingers.” Treatment: sunlamp irradiation, anesthetic massage.