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Looking back at Lyndonville, NY

Dr. Bell previously published a paper on how well his pediatric-onset patients fared after 13 years, vs. the present timeline of 25 years. At the time of the earlier study, he reported that 80% of patients were "doing okay," with the other 20% remaining disabled. That conclusion was misleading, he now says, because the 80/20 figure created the impression that most patients had overcome the illness. "Doing okay," however, was not synonymous with being well.

About half of those in the "okay" group (or 40% of the total) were truly well. The other 40% still had significant symptoms and should therefore have been differentiated from the completely well and the completely disabled. Many thought they were "fine, thanks"; but they had not recovered.