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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
@Deb a child will have a seizure from a fever because the blood sugar runs low. This won’t happen if they sip fruit juice diluted with water 50-50. This is what my Dad taught me .. old school medicine.
I agree with your comments about fevers. I always tried to let fevers run their course. As mentioned previously, I have used cold clothes frequently to keep my kids comfortable when they have a fever. I also applaud your comment about Al Gore. It’s about time someone had the courage to say something about him. Gore runs around screaming that the Sky is falling, while he holds stock in the green energy sector, making big $$ on scaring everyone. Thank you for the excellent blog post!
thats wht i am talking about if they are that young you need to give them something it can get dangerouse
Check with a holistic doc though – who can assess the situation without knee jerking with fever reducing meds.
@Allison a fever in a baby that young must be looked at by a doctor asap.
What are your thoughts on a fever in a 0-3 month old? I was told to bring it down if it hit 100.4
just wanted to say that i have three children and they have had fevers and sometimes i have let them be and in some cases leaving them be turned bad not all the time but a couple times ecause as your children they can go into convultions so you do need to be careful thats for sure but i have always tried to go teh natural route for everything concerning them and i do agree we use drugs way too much and antibiotics as well they have only had to use them in very serouise things..
The only time I’ve given meds to reduce fever is when my youngest would get temp spike that could give him seizures. Other than that, I use wash clothes with cool water and lavender ess. oil on it and put it on the forehead and neck.
Oh, gee. Where were you when my kids were little? Probably not born yet!
I’ve found if I’ve got a cold running a fever, running a bath as hot as I can stand it and sitting in and soaking does wonders for me. I almost always come out feeling 80% or higher back to myself.