4 ms·

Fevers kill. Ibuprofen and acetaminophen reduce fevers.

by an_account_name 8y ago

potiuper 8y ago
Fevers do not kill. Fever is a symptom, which is subjective, not a cause of death.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- sandworm101 8y ago
  Fever 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 ago
    I can confirm a fever can kill, saw and heard about it in SE Asia.
  - potiuper 8y ago
    Hyperthermia 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 ago
      Yes 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 ago
  Not 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 ago
  Fevers 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 ago
  I truly admire your confidence, even it I cannot have it myself.
robbiep 8y ago
Not 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 ago
Fevers 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 ago
  I use my hot tub at 105 degrees to give me fever benefits without the bodily energy expenditure.

Fevers kill. Ibuprofen and acetaminophen reduce fevers.

potiuper 8y ago

Fevers do not kill. Fever is a symptom, which is subjective, not a cause of death.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
sandworm101 8y ago
Fever 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 ago
  I can confirm a fever can kill, saw and heard about it in SE Asia.
- potiuper 8y ago
  Hyperthermia 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 ago
    Yes 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 ago
Not 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 ago
Fevers 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 ago
I truly admire your confidence, even it I cannot have it myself.

robbiep 8y ago

Not 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 ago

Fevers 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 ago
I use my hot tub at 105 degrees to give me fever benefits without the bodily energy expenditure.