FEVER: Friend or Foe in Acute Ailments?

Fever has many causes, but its physiological dynamic is the same in all cases. For this reason, fever can be treated when the appropriate eRemedy is chosen. To get immediate relief, you can go directly to https://www.eremedyonline.com/module/21/fever/, where you will be guided to a questionnaire and to download the appropriate eRemedy.

For those interested in medical information, read on! Most of this information is drawn from David Rakel, Integrative Medicine, Saunders Elsevier, 2007.

There is a specific site in the hypothalamus ( a deep and primitive part of the brain) that maintains body temperature. This site evolved in mammals as a solution to treating infections, which are common in nature. When this site detects a bacterium, virus, or protozoan, it activates the fever-generating mechanism in the body. Because the body can tolerate a wider range of temperatures than the microbes can, this is an effective way to fight infection.

In some cultures, there are superstitions about brain damage being caused by fevers. This is prevented by a kind of cut-off valve in the hypothalamus. Each species of mammal has a maximum body temperature that is allowed in order to protect the brain. In humans, this is 106º. For this reason, when you get sick you want to pray for a fever of 106º in order to get over it more quickly. Using Tylenol or ibuprofen to lower fever actually prolongs the illness and increases the chance of secondary infection that can be more serious.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has done research on this very issue and recommends not treating routine fevers in children for this very reason. Even in the face of febrile seizures, the recommendation remains.  Moreover, it is known that fevers in children average 3 1/2 days. It usually resolves itself, though eRemedies can speed up the process. However, if a fever goes on for five days or more, it is a good idea to see a doctor (if accessible) in order to make a diagnosis and ensure that nothing more serious is happening. [http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/127/3/580.full]

Once the 106º threshold is reached, the body causes drenching perspiration in order to lower the fever and protect the brain.  This is a natural process and should not be a cause of concern.

Of course, fever rarely occurs on its own without other signs of illness. Each illness has its own process, so we will consider some of the common ones individually. Coherence Apps has separate modules for each of these, so you might benefit from checking them out: headache at https://www.eremedyonline.com/module/24/headache/,

influenza at https://www.eremedyonline.com/module/22/influenza/,

cough at https://www.eremedyonline.com/module/29/cough/,

diarrhea at https://www.eremedyonline.com/module/25/diarrhea/,

bladder infection at https://www.eremedyonline.com/module/27/bladder-infection/,

malaria at https://eremedyonline-com.preview-domain.com/module/14/malaria/.

 

Fever with Headache

Headache itself is a common accompaniment of fever because of congestion in the head. It may be associated with flushing and rapid heart rate. This is common and normal.

In rare instances, if the headache is very severe and crippling, it can be a sign of more serious illness. Meningitis and encephalitis are the most common. Such headaches commonly are very sensitive to jarring, light, and even noise.

It might also be accompanied by a unique sign in such brain fevers — pulling on the head until chin hits chest causes increased pain especially in the neck.

Meningitis and encephalitis are serious conditions, so it is a good idea to see a doctor if you have access to medical care. The appropriate eRemedy may help quickly, but you should take steps to get medical evaluation anyway.

Most of the time such brain fevers are viral, and antiviral agents are often not very effective. Nevertheless, supportive care and intravenous fluids can help prevent complications. However, if causation is bacterial, antibiotics can cause rapid improvement.

[Kenneth Pelletier MD, New Medicine, DK Publications, 2005]

Fever and Influenza

A common question is “How can you tell the difference between a cold and influenza?” After all, both might have sore throat, runny nose, sinus congestion, perhaps even a cough. A large difference is fever itself. Influenza has fever while a cold does not. Another difference is that influenza usually has muscle aching, and often nausea, vomiting, and/or diarrhea. To find specific eRemedies for influenza, go to https://www.eremedyonline.com/module/22/influenza/.

There are a number of different causative viruses in influenza, just as in colds. The typical time course is to get sick over a few days. Fever and pains and general discomfort may last for 5 days; in rare instances, it may last two weeks. Sometimes there can be low energy for a few months afterward.

Generally, influenza is a considerable inconvenience but not truly life-threatening. Exceptions might be elderly or immune-compromised individuals.

Becauseit is caused by a virus, antibiotics do not work for influenza, so treatment consists of bedrest, plenty of fluids, an appropriate eRemedy, and allowing the fever to get as high as possible in order to recover faster. Supplements seem to help in some cases – zinc, vitamin C (Ester-C is best), Airborne, Echinacea/Golden Seal, etc.

[Kenneth Pelletier MD, New Medicine, DK Publications, 2005]

Flu shots generally are 15-25% effective. One year the result was 40%. It is quite common for people who have flu shots to develop flu symptoms immediately after the injection. Flu viruses are grown in egg culture, so people allergic to eggs may have problems. Then the viruses are ground up by glass beads into random proteins; these random proteins are then injected into the body, bypassing the usual route by which people acquire influenza – inhalation. Injecting random proteins produces random antibodies, some of which might randomly be against the body itself; this is the definition of autoimmunity. The recent trend toward nasal administration for flu vaccination makes sense in that it duplicates the route of acquisition of the illness itself, plus it provides some protection against random proteins.

Fever and Cough

Many viral ailments may lead to cough, as do allergies or asthma. Allergies do not involve fever, though. When there is fever with cough, the first possibility might be influenza, as discussed in the previous section. In addition, an infection deeper than a mere cold may well have progressed into the bronchi (bronchitis) or into the lungs (pneumonia). Again, these may be viral or bacterial. If viral, antibiotics are ineffective, but if bacterial antibiotics can be very effective.

An appropriate eRemedy found at https://www.eremedyonline.com/module/21/fever/  or https://wwweremedyonline.com/module/29/cough/ can produce rapid relief in either case.

Clinically, it is difficult to distinguish between viral and bacterial pneumonia. Generally, the victim suffers much more profoundly with bacterial pneumonia, and more pus is found in the sputum. These differences are not always clear, however. For example, green mucous in the morning that becomes yellow or clear during the day is more likely to represent a viral infection because sputum turns green while stagnating during sleep. Even so, this indicator should not be relied upon.

A wise caution might be to tolerate the illness for 3 days or so unless you feel really toxic. If it goes on longer, try to be evaluated medically if you have access to facilities. A chest X-ray might help clarify the diagnosis.

[Kenneth Pelletier MD, New Medicine, DK Publications, 2005]

Fever and Diarrhea

Diarrhea itself can be a relatively benign way for the body to rid itself of noxious substances in foods or bacteria and viruses acquired from unsanitary water or food. If not plugged up in some way, this detoxification lasts 12-72 hrs and is over. There is no particular need to treat this other than for convenience. It is important to make sure plenty of fluids are taken to correct for fluids lost. eRemedies from https://www.eremedyonline.com/module/25/diarrhea/ can accelerate the process.

If there is fever, however, there may be more serious infection. Possibilities range from viruses to pathogenic E. coli (a normal species in the intestine) to Chlamydia (a protozoan) to Amoebae (another parasite) to some toxic bacteria like C. dificile. From the standpoint of an eRemedy, the cause does not matter; rapid relief usually ensues by playing the specifically chosen eRemedy. The module https://www.eremedyonline.com/module/21/fever/ can accomplish this.

As usual, on this website Coherence Apps is focused on acute ailments only. There are other more chronic conditions which require medical evaluation and optimally Classical Homeopathy treatment. Ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease are examples of chronic conditions. There can be severe diarrhea, even with blood, and perhaps fever .

In developing countries, diarrhea accompanied by fever can represent truly serious ailments. Amebiasis and dysentery are good examples, but more serious ones are typhoid, some forms of malaria, Lhassa Fever, Ebola, and others. Often medical accerssibility is limited in these areas, and most of these conditions (except some types of malaria) cannot be treated by medication anyway. So the ubiquity of cellphones enables eRemedies as the most effective solution.

As you can see, fever with diarrhea presents a wide variety of possibilities, some serious and some not so serious. Certainly if it goes on for longer than 72 hours or if it is highly toxic, medical evaluation is useful if you have access.

Fever with Bladder Infection

Bladder infection (cystitis or UTI = urinary tract infection) can be very disturbing and painful, but usually does not involve fever. The common concept is that it is caused by E. coli or other intestinal bacteria, mostly in women. The idea is that because female urethras are short, it is easy to pass intestinal bacteria into the bladder especially if sanitary precautions are too loosely observed. Therefore, antibiotics are commonly prescribed, and indeed they often work.

This is not the only scenario, however. Antibiotics sometimes fail  when the real cause is viral. An old joke in medicine is “Antibiotics work in 7 days while not using antibiotics takes a week.”

A sensible analogy for bladder infections is the common cold. Both are acquired relatively easily, and the body heals them in about the same length of time. Usually neither involves fever.

When fever becomes involved, it signifies a deeper strain on the system. The body is trying to fight off a deeper infection. This could be confined to the bladder or might have progressed to the kidneys, just as a cold can go into the lungs. Again, viral infections are not as serious as bacterial infections. Nevertheless, if there is fever with bladder infection, it is worth having a urinalysis and culture and sensitivity through a medical facility, if you have access.

Meanwhile, you can treat the infection immediately by using an eRemedy chosen through https://www.eremedyonline.com/module/21/fever/  or https://www.eremedyonline.com/module/27/bladder-infection/.

In addition, the best thing to do is to drink huge amounts of liquids to help flush the microbes out of the bladder. Often people are unaware of how dehydrated they are, and there is a large deficit to correct. The goal for fluid intake should be that you are peeing decent volumes every 15 minutes or so.

Another helpful idea is to drink pure unadulterated cranberry juice. Research has shown that cranberry juice coats the surface of microbes so they don’t stick to bladder walls so easily. One caution, though, is to make sure not to drink cranberry juice with sugar added; that usually makes symptoms worse! [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3076649/]

Fever in Malaria, Typhoid, Cholera

 For people living in emerging countries, or travelers visiting, unexplained fevers can represent more serious diseases than simple flu or traveler’s diarrhea.

Malaria is an intense and toxic acute attack of high fever and often diarrhea. It can develop acute relapsing states and is often difficult to differentiate from high mortality conditions such as cerebral malaria, Ebola, Lhassa Fever, and others. So prompt medical attention is important. There are medications that can be used even though the causative parasite has developed tolerance to many of them. Use of eRemedies found at MDinyourHand > malaria can help a great deal, but priority should still be to get to what medical facility is nearby.

Typhoid  is a powerful and toxic dysentery along with fever that can  also be hard to tell apart from malaria, Ebola, Lhassa Fever, etc. With proper intravenous and antibiotic support, typhoid is no longer as dangerous as it was a century ago.  So, again, medical attention should be sought whenever possible. And  can well produce relief even before medical interventions are made.

Cholera is a massive diarrhea condition that often follows a natural disaster when normal sanitary facilities are disrupted. It is not characterized by fever. The fluid loss is so severe that death can occur simply from not having enough replacement fluids with corresponding electrolytes. Oral rehydration fluids found in such countries can be life-saving. This dehydrating dynamic is particularly dangerous in infants and small children. Cholera and infantile diarrhea are major causes of deaths of little ones throughout the world.

In cholera, fever is not a feature of the illness except in later stages. This helps in diagnosis. It can occur in late stages simply from severe dehydration itself.

eRemedy treatments can be rapidly effective. To choose the correct eRemedy, go to MDinyourHand > cholera.

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