6 ms·
Fever effect
- jozydapozy 8y agoSeems like the virus has a greater chance of spreading when its host is behaving more social.
- mirimir 8y agoThat's a freaky (sorry, but it fits) idea. I mean, it does seem that rabies increases the likelihood that its hosts will bite others. And respiratory viruses cause sneezing. So it's not impossible that selection pressure could drive viruses to modify behavior of hosts in other ways. Something like black-box decompiling.
- punnerud 8y agoOr you are more likely to get help if you are a bit more thankful than normally
- loa-in-backup 8y agoThat's a very good counterpoint. Human species did evolve to be social "pack" creatures already.
- empath75 8y agoI have a probably TMI story about a case of food poisoning my wife and I had that was prefaced by us being especially frisky for a few hours — we even both said something to each other about how unusual it was. I’ve always wondered if there was a connection.
- azernik 8y agoFevers are a response of the human immune system, and so are subject to human selection pressures.
- lultimouomo 8y agoBut pathogens have a selective pressure to game the host immune system in spreading them further
- klipt 8y agoYep https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/darwins-subterranean-world/201801/does-the-flu-trick-people-being-sociable https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/darwins-subterranean...
- jimmytidey 8y agoI've often noticed that I'm weirdly productive with a low level illness. It's as though my focus is improved .
- quickthrower2 8y agoThink I know what you mean. Sitting at a computer is more appealing when a bit sick, but more likely to want to get out and about if feeling well.
- orev 8y agoSimilar to having a single drink or two. It dulls the brain just enough to remove internal distracting thoughts, but not enough to dull all higher thought functions.
- noir_lord 8y agoSleep deprivation (I’m an insomniac) has a similar effect if I have a lot of grindy work to do there is a point between tired and exhausted where I can hammer through it. It’s a but like the balmer peak though.
- CodeFunctor 8y agoAnecdotally this has not been my experience; I am just as likely to procrastinate while also being marginally cognitively impaired.
- baccheion 8y agoMaybe it's due to histamine.
- DoreenMichele 8y agoI used to spend a lot of time on an alternative medicine forum whose primary goal was to provide support for parents of children with ASD and similar conditions. They primarily were focused on metal poisoning, but some kids were being treated for infection, such as PANDAS. Perhaps some cases of ASD involve infection and fever helps suppress it a bit.
- jack_pp 8y agoI belive this is caused by anti-inflammatory medication and not by the fever itself. There is plenty of research linking brain fog with inflammation. I myself am far more social on ibuprofen than the default and I suggest you try this yourself; try taking 400-600mg ibuprofen even when not sick but "not feeling like yourself" and notice the effects. EDIT: Reading the article further they tried to give sulforaphane to patients and they saw improvements. This compound is believed to have anti-inflammatory and neuro-protective effects ( https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5225737/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5225737/ ).
- Reason077 8y agoBe cautious when taking ibuprofen regularly and/or in large doses, and be aware of potential side effects. Ibuprofen can cause gastrointestinal problems (eg stomach ulcers), and has also been linked to reduced male fertility.
- amelius 8y agoAlso female fertility.
- codetrotter 8y ago> has also been linked to reduced male fertility. Short term while actively using it, or even long term after you stop using it?
- justtopost 8y agoLong term when used as a child, possibly negligable in adults, but likely was my understanding.
- etiam 8y agoHere are a couple of the discussions on HN https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18787086 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18787086 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16254760 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16254760
- amelius 8y agoRhonda Patrick has an information-dense talk on sulforaphane. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zz4YVJ4aRfg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zz4YVJ4aRfg
- justtopost 8y agoRhonda is a rare gem of critical thinking in the wild west of nutrition science. I cannont suggest her enough. I do wish she would make more layman-accessable content, but am loathe to ever ask anyone to dumb themselves down. Very dense in information and theory, but assumes an understanding of some basic biology to follow. I think her appearances on the Rogan podcast are the easiest to parse for most.
- epx 8y agoI have a hypothesis that getting sick (and taking the necessary rest to heal) is beneficial to mental health. The current culture of taking a pill and plough on regardless might be a cause of these epidemic spread of depression, etc.
- criveros 8y ago"Obviously making people purposely sick would be unethical" What if it could save or improve their lives?