| Fever |
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Why do so many of us react to elevated body temperature by
promptly swallowing fever-depressing tablets?
Probably because we take fever to be an undesirable side-effect
of the infection.
The usefulness of certain over-the-counter drugs suppressing
fever is just as pointless as wanting to make dandruff
"disappear" or to "prevent" sweat.
Whoever reduces his blood temperature at the sign of the least cold, interferes with the a natural defence reaction of his or her body.
We already discussed the finely tuned control mechanism
keeping our body's core temperature at +37 plus/minus 0.8 degrees
Celsius.
Many pathogenic organisms infecting us thrive optimally at this
temperature and their propagation is unimpeded. As a
countermeasure, the hormone-controlled temperature regulation is
momentarily switched off, causing body temperature to rise. This
weakens the resistance of the germs towards our antibodies. In
popular parlance we have a fever.
So why should we fight a cold using a fever-depressing agent?
Someone measuring seriously elevated temperatures for an extended
period belongs in the care of a physician anyway.