4 ms·
Fevers do not kill. Fever is a symptom, which is subjective, not a cause of death.
by 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 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.