3 ms·
> If you have a fever because of a bacterial pneumonia, antibiotics are much better than Tylenol. You also don't go "but don't have tylenol to break the fever
by stormbrew 8y ago
> If you have a fever because of a bacterial pneumonia, antibiotics are much better than Tylenol.
You also don't go "but don't have tylenol to break the fever because there's a root cause too," because an unchecked fever is itself damaging to the brain. And you especially don't do that if the root cause is unknown, unclear, or will take a long time or is impossible to cure.
The root causes here are complex and will take decades to undo. Dismissing efforts in the meantime to address the symptoms is effectively dismissing the harm these systemic problems cause now.
- dokein 8y agoI know this is an aside, but speaking as a physician the treatment of fever doesn't actually do much of anything [1]. The rates of certain injuries e.g. febrile seizures are the same with or without Tylenol [2]. [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1488736/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1488736/, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12076499/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12076499/ [2] http://adc.bmj.com/content/88/7/641 http://adc.bmj.com/content/88/7/641
- stormbrew 8y agoThat's definitely interesting! I didn't know that. Still, I think the point is still valid that symptoms are still often worth treating, even if you are also working on the root cause, right?
- dokein 8y agoYou're right. Fever often feels bad, and like pain, is often worth treating. I just ask the patient if it's bothering them, and treat it if it is; the only exception is sometimes leaving a fever unmasked is useful to determine if one's treatment is working.