Fevers: Good or Bad?
Social media really lets you know what other people think, and what’s going on in their homes. I’ve quickly gathered, mostly through the “magic” of Facebook, that many parents are afraid of fevers. They worry as soon as their child spikes one and they quickly rush to either call the doctor or give Tylenol or another fever-reducing medication. They obsessively take their child’s temperature, worry that it is “really high” if it is over 101, and try to make the fever stay gone. Some even alternate a couple different fever reducers just to make sure that fever stays away.
But is this really the right way to handle a fever?
No. Parents who react this way do not understand what a fever really is, nor the proper way to treat it. A fever is not an illness. It is merely a symptom of an illness, a sign that the body is trying to fight off some type of “bug” that has gotten in.
Think of it this way: when some bad bacteria or virus has invaded the body, it has done so because the body provided it hospitable conditions. The body instinctively knows that a higher temperature will create an inhospitable environment and kill the nasty, invading bug. So, it reacts by spiking a fever in order to create that condition.
What happens when you rush to lower the fever? Suddenly the bad bug can get a foothold again, because the temperature is no longer high enough to kill it! This prolongs the illness, not only by initially preventing the body from killing it, but also by allowing it to multiply and spread through the body even more. The body will bring the fever back just as soon as it can, often well before the medication has technically “worn off” and might spike it very high, very quickly to try to rapidly kill the bug before it can spread further. This can become a dangerous situation, especially if the parent reacts to lower the temperature again.
What’s the Harm?
Some of you might say, “Okay, but my child is miserable and doesn’t rest very well with a fever. Isn’t it better to lower it and allow them to sleep? What’s the real harm in lowering it a little?”
Unfortunately, a lot. First of all, Tylenol and ibuprofen can be quite dangerous. They’re the #1 and #2 causes of liver failure in this country (and other developed countries, including Canada and the UK). Tylenol depletes glutathione, which functions heavily in immune function. Also, since these medications are foreign substances, and therefore effectively small doses of poison, the body’s resources are directed towards clearing the body of this “poison” before it can do any harm, instead of fighting the actual illness!
So you’re risking liver damage (over time, or with an overdose; this becomes much more likely if you’re following the outdated advice to switch back and forth between Tylenol and ibuprofen every few hours, or giving larger-than-average doses because the doctor said it was “safe”), depleting glutathione and the immune system’s functioning, and diverting the body’s resources to clearing the Tylenol from the system instead of the illness.
That’s why a child whose fever is treated really might be sick for days longer. Would you rather have an unhappy, uncomfortable child for 12 – 24 hours, or 3 – 4 days? That can be the real difference between treating or not treating the fever.
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