6 ms·
I am not aware of any common uses of Ibuprofen and Acetominophen that saves lives?
by scjr 8y ago
I am not aware of any common uses of Ibuprofen and Acetominophen that saves lives?
- an_account_name 8y agoFevers kill. Ibuprofen and acetaminophen reduce fevers.
- potiuper 8y agoFevers do not kill. Fever is a symptom, which is subjective, not a cause of death.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- sandworm101 8y agoFever can indeed kill. Raise the body temp a few degrees, no matter the cause, and things start going wrong very quickly. Google hyperthermia. In fact, i cannot think of any disease that literally kills. Even with the big stuff like cancer or aids, it is always the symptoms that get you. They damage body systems and the decline of those systems (aka symptoms) eventually causes the cardiac arrest or internal bleeds that shut off nutrients to the brain. Those symptoms are just as lethal no matter thier cause. A massive fever that stops normal body chemistry, whether caused by flu or ebola, will kill you just the same.
- lgregg 8y agoI can confirm a fever can kill, saw and heard about it in SE Asia.
- potiuper 8y agoHyperthermia differs from fever in that the body's temperature set point remains unchanged. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperthermia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperthermia
- sandworm101 8y agoYes but the extra heat in the body causes the same cascade of chemical changes that will eventually kill. Initial treatment is different, to a point. If a fever is too high it will suddenly need the same treatment as hyperthermia: direct cooling.
- anyfoo 8y agoNot a doctor: Isn’t fever (objectively, it seems) defined as a rise in body temperature? From what I’ve learned about protein denaturalization in high school, that doesn’t sound good if excessive.
- richardknop 8y agoFevers do kill. It’s not common in western world where we have access to antibiotics but in developing world it’s more common.
- drb91 8y agoI truly admire your confidence, even it I cannot have it myself.
- robbiep 8y agoNot necessarily. Fevers can cause seizures and they can have detrimental effects in paediatric patients. For the bulk of the general population, these painkillers/anti inflammatories are simply symptom relief. For those talking about hyperthermia killing, yes but in almost all those cases the cause is not an infection. In fact, I would say that paracetamol kills a hell of a lot more patients than it actually ‘saves’. A study I have taken to heart is that permissive hyperthermia (up to 40 deg c) in ICU patients has a greater survival than those where fever is treated aggressively. Physiologically, this resonates because high temperatures activate the immune system and raised temperatures are non-optimal for bacterial proliferation; so the immune system is primed by fever; suppressing it can dull immune system response. In fact, malaria was used as a treatment for syphillis in the early parts of the 20th century because high temperatures kill spirochetes. There are also a decent number of case reports of cancers going into remission following fever. However in my quick mobile google then I could only see the following study that demonstrated no advantage for either control of permissive hyperthermia group in ICU patients; so perhaps I was relying on a study that has been superceeded. https://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMoa1508375 https://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMoa1508375
- Valmar 8y agoFevers are used by the body in an attempt to weaken invading bacteria and viruses, and make it easier for the body to heal. You don't want to stop a fever ~ just keep it within the safe zone where it's healing, but not dangerous.
- Fjolsvith 8y agoI use my hot tub at 105 degrees to give me fever benefits without the bodily energy expenditure.
- bitL 8y agoIbuprofen is anti-inflammatory medication.
- docbrown 8y ago>Ibuprofen is anti-inflammatory medication. And an acetaminophen tablet is a painkiller. While your statement is in fact true, ibuprofen is still a better choice for a fever. The latter is also generally considered a safer alternative, especially in long-term use — even though alternating the two would be ideal.
- jrowley 8y agoIf you have a fever, why not both (as long as you’re hydrated)?
- donatj 8y agoAcetaminophen is actually a pretty dangerous drug that is pretty easy to overdose on. It’s been said if it were discovered today it would be a prescription drug. On top of that numerous recent studies have shown many potential problems. https://www.webmd.com/drug-medication/news/20150302/does-long-term-acetaminophen-use-raise-health-risks#1 https://www.webmd.com/drug-medication/news/20150302/does-lon... > Heavy use of acetaminophen is associated with kidney disease and bleeding in the digestive tract, the paper reports. The medication also has been linked to increased risk of heart attack, stroke and high blood pressure, the study authors noted. > One cited study even showed that overuse of acetaminophen can increase a person's risk of early death as much as 60 percent, the study authors found.
- diydsp 8y agohow true would rate wikipedia's current claim that "how it works is not entirely clear" ?
- gamma-male 8y agoThat was what I used (nothing else) when I got H1N1. I thought I was going to die but I made it.