What is Fever?
This sinister yet common ailment is an endeavor of the body to ease the bodily system from the pressure of something wrong. From time to time, this attempt is made by the body, to get rid of viral and bacterial infections, so we can claim that fevers are actually effective immune stimulants that have various benefits. For those of you who are unaware of the medical terminology, let us tell you that the medicinal name of fever is pyrexia which refers to an increase in the temperature of the body. It is usually escorted by an accelerated pulse, loss of appetite, dehydration, tiredness, headache and pain in muscles.
How much Fever can the Body Naturally Tolerate?
According to one school of thought, fever, in the majority of cases is not considered anything hazardous so much so that in an adult, a fever as much as 103 degree Fahrenheit is said to be harmless while in kids the only apprehension in association with fevers is the risk of dehydration and electrolyte imbalance which could lead to convulsions.
The same school of thought endorses that maintenance of an elevated body temperature in the form of fever will assist to curtail the duration of time an individual (whether a kid or an adult) will be unwell. For kids it is said that the body temperature up to 105 degree Fahrenheit is a notification that the body is increasing a beneficial reaction to a foreign attacker. This holds true especially if the kid is afflicted with high grade fever but is otherwise not distressed.
How Fever impacts your Body positively:
- They amplify the rate of bodily metabolism as well as that of the curative process
- During fever, when the body temperature is elevated, additional numbers of white blood cells (especially the macrophages) are created and released into the circulation more swiftly.
- Creation of antibody is raised up to twenty times the usual rate.
- Fevers afford an unfriendly atmosphere for the attacking microbes many of which are unable to flourish at temperatures more than the normal body temperature of 98.6 degree Fahrenheit and
- The rate of maturity of many microbes is considerably lessened at elevated body temperatures.
- Fevers serve to lessen the desire to eat food; now this fact is very important because sixty percent of the energy of your body is consumed in digesting food so whenever you suffer from fever and don’t each much, that energy of your body is saved and utilized in fighting infection.
- Fever is the therapy, not the illness so bringing fever down by using medicine perhaps puts off improvement, increases the likelihood of an infection that occurs subsidiary to it, denies the evidence for the need of further evaluation or for modifications in the curative approach and may even instigate extensive side effects.
- Fever should not be suppressed unless it is intimidating to go to unsafe levels.
- Fever patient should fast and restart eating unhurriedly only when natural hunger comes back and the temperature is back to normal
- Don’t become panicky if the patient is sweating because it is the defensive mechanism of the body to decrease the temperature of the body.
Having learnt that fever is something favorable for the body, the logical inference is to shun curbing it for as long as doable and use an antipyretic medicine only if high grade fever persists for an extended period or if the body temperature becomes elevated swiftly.
Standard Approach: Treat the Symptoms
Though fever is usually not detrimental yet the ailment which caused the fever to happen is more often than not more vital to be recognized and treated. Although less dangerous, fever often is accompanied by headache, muscle aches, fatigue and dehydration.
So far so good BUT…………..According to another school of thought fever itself has nothing to do to speedup resurgence and improvement from ordinary infections. The authorities who believe in this school of thought are of the opinion that suppressing fever is not at all detrimental and they would never promote the logic of not treating it immediately. Also there are several matters in association with fevers that need to be taken care of immediately e.g. if the fever of an individual is elevated to a great extent, what the attendant of the patient needs to do is to stroke the body energetically with a lukewarm soft cloth so as to enable the blood to shift towards the exterior of the skin discharging heat in a natural way.
In case the patient is dehydrated or suffers from electrolyte imbalance, the attendant should ensure that the patient is hospitalized in a timely manner where he/she is put off the complications such as convulsions which may occur secondary to fever.
The bottom line:
Fever is usually not unsafe, however the ailment causing a fever is usually more noteworthy to recognize and treat than is the fever itself. Though there is enough evidence that higher temperatures are hurtful to several microbes, but medical professionals differ about whether this translates into a role for fever improving your ability to battle infection or not. Most authorities do have the opinion that suppressing fever is not destructive. Health practitioners should treat the fever only when the likely profits prevail over the feasible hazards.
