Busting the five biggest myths about fevers
Article from Dr.
Micozzi's Insiders' Health
February seems to be the time of the year when people are
most vulnerable to catching a cold or the flu. And often, when someone comes
down with one of these winter ailments, they also spike a fever.
Of course, this symptom can be worrisome. But you should
know that in most cases, a fever actually helps you get better faster.
So, today, let’s set the record straight and bust some more
medical myths about this common cold and flu symptom…
Myth #1:
All fevers are bad.
First of all, a fever itself is not an illness. It’s the
body’s natural, physiologic response to a viral or bacterial infection. It
signals the immune system to ramp up the production of white blood cells and
T-cell lymphocytes to stage an attack.
Plus, raising the body’s temperature also slows down the reproduction
of microbes that are causing the infection. In this way, a fever is actually a
lot like an antibiotic drug — neither completely wipe out the infection.
Instead, they both simply slow down the spread of the microbes, allowing your
immune system to kick in, catch up, and ultimately fight off the virus or
bacteria.
That’s also why, even when you must resort to taking an
antibiotic, having a healthy immune system is always the ultimate key to
kicking an infection.
Myth #2:
Feeling warm to the touch means you have a fever.
Yes, feeling warm to the touch means the body is giving off
heat. But a fever isn’t always the culprit…
We know that surface heat can also result from exercise,
getting out of a warm bed, or simply being outside on a hot day. And it
actually helps the body stay cool.
To accurately check for a fever, you must always take an
internal temperature. Below is a guide for internal temperatures that indicate
a fever, based on the most common areas for measurement:
Armpit: 99° F
Oral: 100° F
Rectal or ear: 100.4° F
Myth #3:
Fevers will keep escalating, if not treated.
The brain has an internal thermostat. So, fevers resulting
from infections or viruses typically stop at 103° or 104° F — even without
treatment. They rarely surpass 105° or 106° F, but even then, they don’t cause
permanent damage if caused by infection. I’ll talk a bit more about what to
look for in fever ranges in just a minute.
Myth #4:
Fevers cause seizures.
Only 4 percent of children are susceptible to febrile
seizures (caused by fever). These seizures may be scary to watch, but they usually
cease within 5 minutes and cause no permanent harm. Plus, children who have had
febrile seizures demonstrate no greater risk for developmental delays, learning
disabilities, or chronic seizure disorders.
Myth #5:
ALL fevers need to be treated.
In historical periods, before the advent of acetaminophen
(which was actually a huge set-back for therapeutics) and ibuprofen, healers
observed that the fever helped slow the infection as the immune system ramped
up. Then, when the fever “broke,” healers considered the patient to be in
recovery. A fever was considered a “healing crisis,” after which the patient
was cured.
Today, natural practitioners continue this tradition by
avoiding treating fevers related to a cold or flu, as it typically hastens recovery.
By contrast, mainstream medicine tries to undermine the
body’s natural fever response by using potent and potentially dangerous drugs,
such as acetaminophen (Tylenol®), ibuprofen, or aspirin.
Simple guidelines for different levels of fever
Fevers between 100° and 104° typically:
·
Are no cause for alarm in sick children
·
Are caused by infection
·
Are helpful in fighting off infection
·
Have a short duration
·
Are well-tolerated by the body
·
Don’t require medical intervention
·
Aren’t associated with causing brain damage (the
body literally won’t kill itself, while trying to kill off a microbial
infection)
Fevers above 108° can cause serious medical issues and
require immediate medical attention.
Of course, there are always exceptions. For instance, any fever
in a newborn up to three months should get medical attention.
But, in general, there’s no real reason to get all hot and
bothered by a typical, run-of-the-mill fever caused by a cold virus or the flu.
In fact, it could be just what you need to kick the virus to the curb and start
feeling great again.
In the end, thermometer readings don’t tell the whole story.
And you should always look at other visible symptoms to determine if immediate
medical treatment is necessary.
Marc S. Micozzi, M.D., Ph.D.
7 Proven Ways to Keep Your
Brain Young
This article is copyrighted by GreenMedInfo LLC, 2019
Over 5 million Americans have been diagnosed with
Alzheimer’s. Another 10,000,000 suffer
with severe dementia and Parkinson’s. Even more struggle with age-related mild
cognitive impairment. Here are 7 natural ways to defend your brain.
Alzheimer's disease affects about 5.3 million Americans.
It's the leading cause of dementia and the 6th leading cause of death in the
U.S. And it's growing at an alarming
rate. Already 13% of people over 65 have
been diagnosed with the disease. An
astounding 43% of those over the age of 85 are victims.
Alzheimer's has been called the defining disease of the
boomer generation. Its victims are
expected to triple by the year 2050.
In addition, it's estimated that 10,000,000 others suffer
with severe dementia and Parkinson's disease.
But even if you escape these debilitating and
life-threatening diseases, you may be among millions more who suffer from mild
cognitive impairment (MCI or what is frequently called "age-related
cognitive dysfunction") and normal "age–associated memory
impairment." These conditions are what many of us have experienced as
"senior moments." The symptoms
include memory loss, as well as a decline in the ability to think and reason.
Some of these problems are a result of the natural aging of
our brains. But others arise from poor
nutrition and exposure to environmental toxins.
Drugs have shown little promise and serious side
effects. But here are seven proven
methods to keep your brain young and sharp.
1. Bacopa Boosts Cognition
Bacopa monnieri is a traditional herb used for centuries in
Ayurvedic medicine. It is prescribed as
a memory and learning enhancer, a sedative, and anti-epileptic. In Australia, it is a popular memory aid for
people over 60 years old.
Bacopa grows in the wet tropics and is also commonly known
by its English name, water hyssop.
In a rigorous study published in the Journal of
Complementary and Alternative Medicine, researchers found that Bacopa has
positive effects on several measures of cognitive performance. In a randomized, double-blind,
placebo-controlled clinical trial, they gave participants either 300 mg of
Bacopa daily or a placebo pill. The
subjects were 54 volunteers, 65 or older, without clinical signs of dementia.
After 12 weeks, those taking Bacopa improved their delayed
recall memory, their reaction times and their ability to ignore irrelevant
information. Placebo recipients saw no
change.
In addition Bacopa recipients showed a decrease in heart
rate, depression and anxiety while placebo recipients saw increases.
Three other double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled
studies support Bacopa's benefits in verbal learning abilities, delayed recall
of word pairs, and age-associated memory impairment.
Bacopa's memory-enhancing effects have been attributed in
part to saponins. Other ways Bacopa may
work include its antioxidant effects, protein synthesis in the brain, and
modulation of brain stress hormones.
Other studies show Bacopa extracts also ameliorate
neurotoxic effects of nicotine and aluminum, and reduce β-amyloid plaque levels
in animals.
2. Ginkgo Biloba Improves Memory
For years gingko biloba has been linked to memory
improvement. It acts as a free radical
scavenger, protecting neurons from oxidation.
It also improves microcirculation in the brain and reduces platelet
aggregation.
Human studies show taking gingko biloba regularly can
improve mental health, cognition, motor skills and quality of life. It's particularly helpful for memory loss,
attention, alertness, vigilance, arousal and mental fluidity.
In 2005 researchers put gingko biloba up against Pfizer's $4
billion a year prescription drug donepezil (trade name Aricept) in a 24-week randomized,
double-blind study. An extract of gingko
biloba (160 mg per day) was found to be just as effective as the drug for
mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease.
The researchers concluded there were no relevant differences in the
efficacy of gingko biloba and donepezil, and use of both substances can be
justified.
In a more recent double-blind trial gingko biloba was found
to be significantly better than placebo in improving cognitive function and
behavioral symptoms in 400 patients with Alzheimer's disease or vascular
dementia.
3. Tea, Wine and Chocolate Improve Thinking Skills
As we get older, a diet high in some flavonoid-rich foods
may help with better thinking skills.
Researchers examined the relation between 3 common foods
that contain flavonoids (chocolate, wine, and tea) and cognitive performance.
They followed 2,031 participants aged 70 to 74 years from the Hordaland Health
Study in Norway.
People who consumed chocolate, wine, or tea had
significantly better scores on cognitive tests and lower rates of poor
cognitive performance.
Those who ate all three foods had the best test scores and
the lowest risks for poor test performance.
The good results were dose dependent. The best performance maxed out at 10 grams
per day of chocolate and 75-100 ml per day of wine. The effect was most pronounced for wine and
modestly weaker for chocolate.
Other research shows that resveratrol, found in wine and
chocolate, has the ability to neutralize the toxic effects of proteins linked
to Alzheimer's disease.
In a study published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry
researchers showed that resveratrol selectively targets and neutralizes clumps
of peptides or proteins that are bad and have been linked to Alzheimer's, but
leaves alone those that are benign.
Resveratrol is a chemical compound in plants that acts as an
antibiotic to fight off both bacteria and fungus. Besides grapes and cacao, it is found in
raspberries, mulberries, blueberries, and cranberries. It's also in peanuts,
pine trees and Japanese knotweed, the source of most resveratrol supplements.
4. Antioxidants
Decelerate Brain-Aging
It's clear that people eating a diet high in fruits and
vegetables have fewer age-related diseases like Alzheimer's. Eating more
high-antioxidant foods such as berries, Concord grapes, and walnuts may enhance
cognitive and motor function in older people.
Studies show supplementing with fruit or vegetable extracts
high in antioxidants (e.g. blueberries, strawberries, walnuts, and Concord
grape juice) helps decrease the vulnerability to oxidative stress that occurs
in aging. That can lead to improvements
in behavior.
Fruits and vegetables can also enhance communication between
neurons and decrease stress signals induced by oxidation and inflammation.
Other studies indicate that blueberry or Concord grape juice
supplementation in humans with mild cognitive impairment increases verbal
memory performance.
5. Intermittent
Fasting Regenerates Brain
Overeating is a risk factor for many age-related diseases
including cognitive impairment.
Experimental models of Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's
disease, Huntington's disease and stroke show that dietary restriction (reduced
calorie intake) can beef up the resistance of neurons in the brain to
dysfunction and death.
How? Dietary
restriction stimulates the expression of 'stress proteins' and neurotrophic
factors. Neurotrophic factors may protect neurons by increasing production of
proteins that suppress oxidation and free radicals.
In addition, dietary restriction increases the number of
newly-generated neural cells in the adult brain. In other words, it may increase the brain's
capacity for plasticity and self-repair.
Researchers suggest that limiting calories may reduce both
the incidence and severity of neurodegenerative disorders in humans.
Intermittent fasting is not as difficult as it sounds. It doesn't involve just drinking water. Most intermittent fasting plans cut calories
to 25% of normal amounts. That's about
600 calories for men and 500 calories for women on one or two days of the week.
6. Sleep Cleans Out
Brain Toxins
A University of Oregon study shows middle-aged or older
people who get six to nine hours of sleep a night think better than those
sleeping either fewer or more hours.
Researchers used data involving more than 30,000 subjects in
six countries. They found that individuals sleeping less than six hours and
more than nine hours had significantly lower cognitive scores compared to those
in the intermediate group.
The researchers used five standard cognitive tests involving
immediate recall of a list of words, delayed recall of those words later,
forward and backward recall of long lists of numbers, and a verbal fluency test
in which they listed as many animals as possible without repetition, the use of
proper nouns or descriptors.
One reason a good night's sleep works is the brain's trash
removal system. During sleep the brain
works 10 times as hard to remove toxic proteins like the ones responsible for
Alzheimer's damage. If you're not
asleep, the brain can't get rid of plaques so easily.
7. Curcumin Clears
Alzheimer's Plaques
The incidence of Alzheimer's among adults in India is about
4.4 times less than that of Americans.
Researchers in Singapore suggest the reason might be curry
and the spice turmeric. They looked at
curry consumption and brain performance in 1,010 Asians between 60 and 93 years
of age. Those who ate curry occasionally (less than once a month) and often
(more than once a month) performed better than those who rarely or never ate
curry.
Over 30 studies in the GreenMedInfo data base deal with the
promise of curcumin, the active compound in turmeric, in the treatment and
prevention of Alzheimer's disease.
According to one study, turmeric showed remarkable results in Alzheimer
patients in just three months.
A 2006 UCLA study found curcumin may help clear the amyloid
plaques found in Alzheimer's disease. One way it works is by boosting the work
of macrophages. These cells in the
immune system help the body fight foreign proteins.
Researchers took macrophages from the blood of Alzheimer's
patients and healthy controls. They treated some of the macrophages with
curcumin. The treated macrophages showed
improved ingestion of the beta-amyloid proteins. The researchers concluded that
curcumin may support the immune system to clear amyloid plaques.
And in animal studies low doses of curcumin led to 40% less
beta-amyloid than in those not given the spice.
Studies indicate low doses of turmeric over a long period of
time are most effective. That's a good
reason to add turmeric to your daily diet.
It's great in curry sauces, scrambled eggs, deviled eggs, mustard sauces
or salad dressings.
There are many other natural ways to keep your brain young
including coconut oil, ginger, B-vitamins, and saffron.
For much more information on healthy brain aging visit
GreenMedInfo page on the aging brain.
Until next time, stay healthy and happy
JD Roma
The information on this blog is provided for educational
purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical care, and
medical advice and services are not being offered. If you have, or suspect you
have, a health problem you should consult your physician (preferably a
Naturopath).
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