Fever is a widely misunderstood phenomenon. It is not a function of disease, it is a function of your immune system combatting disease. Think about that: It is a system of defence! Once this is understood, it goes without saying that bringing down fever is a bad idea - mostly. Yet it is a widespread practice, almost an obsession. Unless the fever rises to a level where in itself it is life threatening, it should never be brought down by artificial means.
So what is the purpose of fever during an acute infection? There are three distinct ones.
1. As a signal which shows that you are ill. High fever makes you feel so bad that you have to stay in bed. You need rest, and you do rest. If you bring down the fever, you will feel well and live as usual, while in fact you are ill and need to rest. The consequence can be that an acute infection slips into a chronic or dormant state (not disappearing), or that you get side effects. All this can trigger a build-up of degenerative disease.
2. As a method to cause sweating - as a means to drive out toxins caused by disease-causing microbes. Such toxins can play a role in the development of some degenerative diseases. In certain cases, the toxins can be the major danger of illness, causing - for instance - dissolution of blood vessels... and surely death.
3. And finally to use the increased temperature as a weapon as such. Many microbes are very temperature sensitive and lose strength already before 40 degrees Celsius, whereupon the immune system can more easily defeat them.
Your fever is not your enemy - it is your friend! A part of your defence!
When fever during an infection goes over 40 degrees Celsius, one can start to consider if it has to be brought down by medicine, but not before that. As a rule, it is not dangerous until it is over 41 degrees Celsius, and it is very rare that it goes that high. Indeed, in many cases recovering would be boosted if mild fever could be brought up to about 40 degrees Celsius.
(This article is based on material previously published in Meriondho Leo and in my e-book “Paradigms of Health”, 2019.)
Copyright © 2020 Meleonymica/Mictorrani. All Rights Reserved.
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That's exactly it. Fever is a signal that your body is fighting and that you should come to rest so that your body can recover. Only when the fever rises very high and becomes threatening does it need to be lowered.