Heather Bedard, C.H.E.
Parents all over the world have been fed misleading information (or no information at all) about fevers and the role they play in the body. See the article “I’ve Got a Fever…” for more details on the role that fevers play in the elimination of pathogens.
Antipyretics (fever reducing drugs) have increased in application from 67% to over 90% over the last few decades. This is the preferred method of parents for dealing with their child’s sickness. Additionally this study on, “Fever Evidence: Management vs Current Practice” showed that both children who had discomfort from fever and those that acted normally both received antipyretics. This is concerning because the behavior of your child, even more so than the temperature level, is a better determinate of the level of sickness.
One of the problems with increased antipyretic usage is that dosing becomes an issue. If the dose is not high enough, then it does nothing for the fever and that encourages alternating drugs to initiate the reduction of fever. This system has been found to be harmful and is not encouraged by research any longer. Keep in mind that the reduction of a fever manually does not mean you are treating the actual sickness!
Fevers help to stop the replication of viruses which happen between 100.4 and 105.8 degrees Fahrenheit. This brings us to an interesting question, if the fever helps to stop the replication of viruses, and most viruses stop replicating at 105.8 degrees at the highest, are we helping the body by trying to reduce the temperature? The answer is no. Lowering body temperature can actually increase the length of your illness by allowing the viruses to continue to replicate. This has been shown in many different studies, but notably in a randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled study on 72 children with chicken pox. Researchers found that taking acetaminophen (Tylenol) may prolong the disease.
The first thing that people generally reach for is Tylenol or Motrin to reduce the fever. The irony is that Tylenol and ibuprofen (Motrin) can increase the severity AND the duration of nasal symptoms in adults with colds. Another double-blind placebo-controlled study showed that these types of medication can also suppress the immune response.
Even more concerning, are the risks that go with taking fever reducing drugs.
Such toxic effects can be divided into three categories: mucosal lesions, gastrointestinal discomfort (i.e. stomach ache, pain), and severe gastrointestinal complications (e.g. perforated ulcer, gastrointestinal bleeding).
In 2011 Aspirin poisoning was documented at 20,000 children. Aspirin is a form of salicylic acid used in rodenticide to cause rats to die of internal hemorrhage. One look at the safety data sheet may be enough to convince you of the dangers of taking this drug whether it’s for yourself or your child. Tylenol has its own side effects list that many people gloss over. As of 2009 the FDA required that Tylenol add a liver damage warning to its label and estimated that Tylenol was the cause of 25% of emergency room visits and 25% of the deaths in emergency rooms in the 90’s. To top it off in a population based study, 45% of Acute Liver Failure cases was associated with acetaminophen use.
The list goes on and on and it’s important to remember that your body will do its best if you partner with it to achieve healing and restoration. Don’t be afraid of your body. It’s beautifully designed and powerful given the right fuel. Eating a whole food, plant based diet, low in fat and animal products is one of the most powerful ways to give your body the nutrients it needs to fight when it’s time to fight.
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El-Radhi AS. Fever management: Evidence vs current practice. World J Clin Pediatr. 2012;1(4):29-33. Published 2012 Dec 8. doi:10.5409/wjcp.v1.i4.29
Doran TF, De Angelis C, Baumgardner RA, Mellits ED. Acetaminophen: more harm than good for chickenpox?. J Pediatr. 1989;114(6):1045-1048. doi:10.1016/s0022-3476(89)80461-5
Greisman L, Mackowiak P. “Fever: beneficial and detrimental effects of antipyretics.” Current Opinion in Infectious Diseases 2002;15:241-245
Graham NM, Burrell CJ, Douglas RM, Debelle P, Davies L. Adverse effects of aspirin, acetaminophen, and ibuprofen on immune function, viral shedding, and clinical status in rhinovirus-infected volunteers. J Infect Dis. 1990;162(6):1277-1282. doi:10.1093/infdis/162.6.1277
www.aapcc.org/dnn/NPDSPoisonData/NPDSAnnualReports.aspx
Karen I. Plaisance, Toxicities of Drugs Used in the Management of Fever, Clinical Infectious Diseases, Volume 31, Issue Supplement_5, October 2000, Pages S219–S223, https://doi.org/10.1086/317518