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The American Academy of Pediatrics has “pulled an Al Gore”.
In similar amusing fashion to the former Vice President’s claim that he invented the Internet, researchers in the journal Pediatrics have recommended the “novel approach” of letting a fever run its course in otherwise healthy children. (1)
Evidently these doctors are suffering from an extreme case of memory loss or egomania as was the case for Mr. Gore. Either that or they made a practice of napping during their Medical History classes in Med School. More likely, these types of classes weren’t even offered at the request of the pharmaceutical companies donating copious amounts of cash to the particular institution they attended.
After all, we wouldn’t want newly minted doctors knowing anything about the history of effective, non-drug based remedies and treatments, would we?
While it may be claimed that this research is somehow “new” and goes against conventional wisdom, this is simply not so.
Au contraire. Prior to the advent of the American obsession with all things pharmaceutically produced which began to gather momentum in the 1970s, doctors routinely recommended against treating the fevers of healthy children. My own father, a retired MD who specialized in Family Practice, never brought down fevers in his own children nor did he suggest doing so to his patients even in cases where the fevers were rather high at 105F.
Why? Because doing so would prolong the illness, of course! Simple common sense medicine for normal, healthy children.
A fever is the primary mechanism for the immune system to fight off viruses and bacteria. Bringing it down handicaps this natural immune response prolongs the illness and more than likely induces a secondary infection that may require – you guessed it: a visit to the Doc to get a prescription for antibiotics.
Unfortunately, it seems that common sense is something that Pediatricians need a research study to finally embrace.
How to Keep a 24 Hour Bug From Turning into a 2 Week Ordeal
The wisdom of the “leave the fever alone” strategy was driven home to me once again just last week. One of my kids came home from school on Thursday afternoon with a bad headache. Since he rarely complains of anything like this, I figured he was trying to fight off some sort of virus.
Sure enough, within a couple of hours, he spiked a fever to 102-103F. This fever basically held (with a few brief dips to 99-100F after sipping a cup of homemade broth) for 24 hours. Did I treat it with Tylenol or ibuprofen?
No way! He had a big soccer tournament that very weekend and his best chance to still compete was to do nothing!
The fever and headache were the only symptoms he ended up having. They were both gone within 24 hours and he competed in the weekend tournament as planned. He played hard too and in the 88F heat. The kid bounced back fast because his natural immunity was left to operate as Nature intended with no meddling from vitality zapping over the counter meds.
I have no doubt that if I had panicked and brought that fever down justifying my actions in order “to help him get a good night’s sleep for the soccer tournament” that he would still be sick and probably have some sort of secondary infection in his lungs with a lot of mucus and coughing.
Letting the fever run its course is more important than a good night’s sleep for getting well, in my experience! If you absolutely must do something, use homeopathic cell salts or a fever bath to speed the process along.
I am so glad the value of fevers was impressed upon me at a young age. Don’t wait for your Pediatrician to wake up to common sense strategies before adopting them yourself.
References
(1) Fever and Antipyretic Use in Children
(2) Traditional Remedies for Childhood Illnesses
(3) Treating Fevers in Children
As a Doctor of Natural Medicine. I wholly applaud your capacity to stand the “heat.” I also appreciate your Dad’s view on the same. The fever function also allows for the integration of the immune function, “code for sense of self” and the babe will often have a growth spurt on the level of fine or gross motor skills after the heat subsides naturally, or with homeopathics. I heard back, just last week, from a Mom with your level of knowledge whose babe began to walk and speak for the first time, a monumental leap in her development, after a good spikey fever. Harris Coulter has linked suppression of fevers to cancer, heart disease, deviant behavior and crime.
Sarah, Thanks so much for this post! I can attest to the truth of this as well in many ways. My children are almost never sick, but for a period of time when we were unable to get our raw milk they each had several colds. At one point they had low grade fevers and I did nothing, but my youngest (probably about 13 mo at the time) was absolutely miserable and couldn’t sleep so I gave in and let him have a half dose of motrin. Boy am I sorry I did! He was sick for 2 weeks! the others were over it in 2 days.
Also, when my first was just a few months old and breastfeeding, he got a bad cold (he had been vaccinated–my others are not) and I brought him to the doctor when his chest sounded rattly just to be sure it wasn’t bronchitis (it wasn’t). They gave me a prescription. Being young and ignorant I filled it. A few more weeks went by he still wasn’t well so I took him in just to be sure he was still ok. Another prescription. Few more weeks and he still wasn’t well. The doc said she would give me this other stronger med. I filled it, but when I read the warnings and side effects I was horrified and threw it away. he was better shortly thereafter. Each time i specified that I just wanted to make sure the illness wasn’t escalating. I wish I new then what I know now!! 😀
totally agree with the fever thing, but not so much on what you think and write on Mr Al Gore. it was not necessarry Mr Al Gore in this discussion.
If my young children get a rather high fever I will sometimes give a homeopathic remedy specific to their symptoms. The Belladonna remedy is the one that usually works for them, and rather quickly brings them back from the “edge” and doesn’t seem to impede their recovery.
I am so glad you are out there with a voice and not afraid to speak! Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us all. My son just got over a case of rsv. I didn’t treat his fever because it stayed under 103. But I did take him in after the 4th day because he had a fever for so long. The doc asked if I had been giving him ibuprofen or tylenol and I asked him why- it is his body’s natural immune response. He looked at me like I was from Mars and said that “there is no proof that bringing down a fever will change the outcome of the illness”- hmmmm. But to give the doc credit he ran a test and it came back rsv and he said to just let it run its course. But I did wonder what they are teaching in medical school or not teaching!
Sarah, I’m always learning more from you. Sometimes I’m still a bit stuck in my “conventional” ways, and posts like this help me inch further and further away from that. When my kids get a fever again (can’t remember the last time though!), I’ll be sure to remember all the great tips here.
Thanks!
Kelly
Hi, Sarah,
I generally agree with this post with a few notable exceptions:
1. Neonates – fever in a neonate could be indicative of meningitis or sepsis. It should ALWAYS be evaluated less than 6-8wks (and some will say less than 12wks).
2. Recurrent fevers or fevers lasting more than 5-7days. Either one could be a sign of something more severe. . . although there are many examples, one is a UTI. It may not sound like that big a deal, but a UTI can be an indicator of underlying renal and/or bladder anomalies which can cause lots of problems down the line.
I’m with you on the holistic aspects of treatment, but I think there are some things that modern medicine should get involved in.
Great post 🙂 Very helpful for kiddos AND adults. Since I work with a lot of clients who have compromised immune systems, many times they have a difficult time achieving a fever. To compound the issue many (so many) people have low body temperatures (thyroid issues, damaged metabolism or HPT/PT feedback loop) and a “fever” is actually like 99 degrees. I had this very same issue and as I began to get better and my immune system was repairing and getting stronger, it could rally to fight an infection. However, it wouldn’t ever go very high, surely not high enough to actually kill off the infection. So, one time I was sick and had a teeny fever, I started chewing ionized calcium supplements (one of the benefits of being a nutritional therapist- I have lots of neat stuff lying around to try out, lol) because calcium will feed a fever. (As the body uses up a lot of calcium during a fever episode and by supplying additional calcium you will be able to give the good guys more strength) Sure enough, my fever shot up to a solid 101.5, stayed there ovenight and by the next day the virus that was “supposed” to last a week was gone. Calcium won’t “cause” a fever, of course, but it will help your body get there if it needs to.
GREAT point, Amy. I remember back when I was eating junk, I rarely ran a fever higher than 99 or so. I now can run a beauty right up to 104F on occasion and it is really a wonderful thing. A nice high fever is a sign of vitality, not weakness and folks should be pleased when they can run a good solid fever. I had a knee infection a couple of years ago (a cyst burst under my kneecap) and I had a terrible infection in the knee for 2 weeks. I ran a fever of 104-105 for DAYS on end. I was not delirious in the slightest. I got through it and my doc couldn’t believe I was lucid with a fever that high as an adult (evidently running a fever that high as an adult is unusual). BUT, I know that this fever saved me from having to go to the hospital for IV antibiotics. I recovered at home with no problem and I know it was this very prolonged, high fever that saved me from an awful few days at the hospital.
Oh, and I should say the doc told me to bring the fever down, and I would not. If I had, I would’ve ended up in the ER, no doubt, the infection was that bad.
Thanks for the interesting post Sarah. I thought I was doing good with homemade and natural remedies with my sick 20 month old, but this is revealing. I’m beginning to think if I just do everything the opposite of what I used to think about a year ago I’ll be making the best decisions : ) I’m so glad to now be part of such a healthy and natural oriented community.
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Regis