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Fever is not bad, fear of fever is.

ELIMINATE THE FEAR, NOT THE FEVER

AUTHOR // Susan Markel, MD

 “Doctors do a great disservice to you and your child when they prescribe drugs to reduce fever,” writes Dr. Robert Mendelsohn, pediatrician and author of How to Raise a Healthy Child In Spite of Your Doctor. “Fever phobia is a disease of pediatricians, not parents, and to the extent that parents are victimized by it, doctors are at fault.” Parents are left to fear that their child’s temperature will keep rising unless measures are taken to control it. Yet, reducing the child’s temperature will do nothing to make the child well, and our bodies have a built-in mechanism that will prevent an infection-induced temperature from reaching dangerous levels. Mendelsohn emphasizes that “only in the case of heatstroke, poisoning, or other externally caused fevers is this body mechanism overwhelmed and inoperative.”

 http://pathwaystofamilywellness.org/Children-s-Health-Wellness/eliminate-the-fear-not-the-fever.html

Fever management: Evidence vs current practice

A Sahib Mehdi El-Radhi
Fever is a very common complaint in children and is the single most common non-trauma-related reason for a visit to the emergency department. Parents are concerned about fever and it’s potential complications. The biological value of fever (i.e., whether it is beneficial or harmful) is disputed and it is being vigorously treated with the belief of preventing complications such as brain injury and febrile seizures. The practice of alternating antipyretics has become widespread at home and on paediatric wards without supporting scientific evidence. There is still a significant contrast between the current concept and practice, and the scientific evidence. Why is that the case in such a common complaint like fever The article will discuss the significant contrast between the current concepts and practice of fever management on one hand, and the scientific evidence against such concepts and practice.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4145646/

A NEW ATTITUDE TOWARD FEVERS: AN INTERVIEW WITH PHILIP INCAO, MD

AUTHOR // Philip Incao, MD
We have a tyranny of fear in the U.S. about fevers and infections, which is understandable, but which is a terrible obstacle to healing what ails us as individuals and as a society. At the turn of the 19th to the 20th century many children died of pneumonia, scarlet fever or diphtheria. Today U.S. children very rarely die from any of the acute infectious/inflammatory feverish illnesses that often claimed their lives before 1900. That has more to do with modern progress in plumbing, sanitation, hygiene and even literacy, than with medical interventions such as vaccinations and antibiotics. In any case, it’s very important to understand that it’s our own immune system that creates our fevers, and that fevers are our main defense against our body’s toxicity and the germs which feed on that toxicity. Parents are overanxious to lower a fever, and assume that when it goes down the child is healthy, which is often not the case.
http://pathwaystofamilywellness.org/Holistic-Healthcare/a-new-attitude-toward-fevers-an-interview-with-philip-incao-md.html

 1998 Oct;51(4):315-20.

Febrile infectious childhood diseases in the history of cancer patients and matched controls.

Albonico HU1, Bräker HU, Hüsler J.

Abstract

The present study was designed to investigate the hypothesis that febrile infectious childhood diseases (FICDs) are associated with a lower cancer risk in adulthood,
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9824838
MORE:
Dr. Paul Thomas, MD
When Should I Be Worried About My Baby's Fever?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUuBCy0lCJI

Dr. Natasha Burgert, MD
Fever in children: 5 facts you must know
http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2011/08/fever-children-5-facts.html

Dr. Perri Klass, MD
Lifting a Veil of Fear to See a Few Benefits of Fever
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/11/health/11klass.html?_r=0

Dr. Andrew Saul, PhD
DoctorYourself.com - Fever
http://www.doctoryourself.com/fever.html

Parents warned against giving paracetamol and ibuprofen for mild fever (28 February 2011)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8351085/Parents-warned-against-giving-paracetamol-and-ibuprofen-for-mild-fever.html

Studies Suggest an Acetaminophen-Asthma Link (19 December 2011)
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/20/health/evidence-mounts-linking-acetaminophen-and-asthma.html

Study: Fever Treatments May Cause More Flu Deaths (26 January 2014)
http://atlanta.cbslocal.com/2014/01/26/study-fever-treatments-may-cause-more-flu-deaths/

Did you know ibuprofen can cause kidney damage? (28 January 2013)
http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/health/mdmama/2013/01/did_you_know_ibuprofen_can_cause_kidney_damage.html

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