Submitted by tiph12 t3_124ds3h in explainlikeimfive
I've learned fevers are uncomfortable (to a certain level) but helpful in killing disease agents. Paracetamol or ibuprofen lower the pain and the body temperature. Why is this an ok idea? Shouldn't we let the fever run its course?
Really cool, thank you!
Capitalistic nature of modern society demands a 9-5 workday so paracetamol is taken to make the fever tolerable...
Ok Karl
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Oh, how come ? Would you happen to have a source for that, apart from the TrustMeBro News Network? 😄
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As a patient I always ask if I can take paracetamol or a stomach protector with ibuprofen, because I can't handle ibuprofen more than 2 days without it damaging my stomach. But I was told that its better for inflamations
It's also worth adding that people often put over emphasis on fever. It's generally also safe to let them ride unless it goes over 105 F, 41.5 C in which case it's getting close to being harmful, but suppressing also doesn't seem to have all that much of an effect on the course of the illness. It is possible that in severe illness before the development of modern medicine it was medically advantageous, but we now have better tools than fever to treat such things like antibiotics or other drugs depending on the illness.
It really depends on age, body, health, etc. Long and uncontrolled fever can be harmful beyond discomfort. Older people, those suffering from chronic illnesses or babies should not be with high fever over long periods of time. It also matters if the fever lasts a day or two or weeks.
That's when the fever gets too high, I get that -- but does that mean as long s it's safely below 40°C (or the adequate threshold for elderly, infants, etc.), it is better to keep it going?
The problem is that fevers can suddenly spike dangerously high with no warning, and there’s a limited amount of time to try to get it under control before there is harm to the brain. So it’s good to try to control the mechanisms that could cause that by taking medications that lower the temperature. Fevers are designed to try to kill infection, but it’s an imperfect biological response that could kill the person instead of help them. Especially in babies.
It is not like the body announces "yeah I am going to be a nice warm 38 degrees for afew hours now" It can spike and get really dangerous.
Wouldn't that be lovely though!
Because sometimes the body gets too hot in its effort to save you and you end up melting your brain. Fevers are really the bodies last line of defense… think of it like a war of attrition. Sometimes it doesn’t matter how healthy you were, sometimes you just die
That's when the fever gets too high, I get that -- but does that mean as long s it's safely below 40°C, it is better to keep it going?
Not necessarily, there are other dangers with that as well. But if you stay below a reasonable temp (I’m in the us and don’t want to convert) then it’s also not necessarily bad to do that. Old home remedies actually encouraged the high temp in order to make it happen faster
Note that the latest medical evidence is that those old home remedies were wrong.
And highly dangerous. I’m still alive but it wasn’t a great time
That makes sens, thanks!
For conversion purposes, 40°C = 104°F :)
104 is too high. 101 is typically when I’ve experienced doctors start prescribing meds
The math doesn't check out
Fevers are in theory useful but in practice dont make that much of a difference to the course of most illness.
Most fevers can be left untreated, as it is rare for the body to generate a fever high enough to be harmful.
However, fever is very uncomfortable, and can interfere with other things that are important to healing - hydration being the big one - lots of folks, especially kids, will throw up and have trouble drinking when they have a fever, so bringing the fever down can help with a vital part of staying alive.
Treat fever if the symptoms of the fever itself are troublesome, otherwise generally fine to let it do its thing.
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I have young children who have had a bunch of ear infections which results in high fevers. You get a different answer from every medical professional. Some say let the fever go if its not too high, some say use Tylenol to reduce the fever. Its all over the place.
dmazzoni t1_jdyyy51 wrote
The general medical consensus is that there is no harm in taking paracetamol or ibuprofen to reduce a fever. It will not prolong the illness or reduce the body's ability to fight it, so it's okay to take some as needed for comfort.
Don't believe me, believe actual medical professionals from mainstream publications:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/11/well/live/fever-infection-drugs-tylenol-acetaminophen-ibuprofen-advil-aspirin.html
https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-355008565371
I'm sure you can find some doctors who disagree. But this is most definitely the consensus of the vast majority.