When you really have a temperature

Suppose that you measured the temperature correctly. Feeling sick, you measured the temperature in your mouth, and it turned out to be 37.5 ° C. It's nice to think that nature helps you to prove to the world that you are really sick (without a temperature, who would believe you?). But do not rush to lower your elevated temperature. Fever is not a disease, it is a symptom, and often good - it means that nature copes with a virus or parasite that has harmed you. Most of these organisms do not live in the warmth. In fact, hyperthermia (an increase in body temperature) is one of the methods of treating cancer. If you quickly lose the temperature, with aspirin, acetaminophen or an alcohol sponge, without asking why it has risen, you will not only obscure the cause, you will deprive yourself of a natural protection mechanism.

Another tip: if your child has a fever due to a viral infection such as flu or chickenpox, never use aspirin . If you do this, the child may develop Reye's syndrome - a serious nervous disorder. But if the temperature is above 38.7 ° C, the baby is very bad and it has seizures, then you have to lower the temperature. You can make it an alcohol sponge (it cools the body as a result of rapid evaporation of alcohol on the skin) or by giving it acetaminophen (Tylenol).

Heat stroke caused by prolonged indoors or in the air at a very high temperature, with which the body's temperature regulators (for example, sweating) simply can not cope, is characterized by a very high temperature and many neurological phenomena, from convulsions to loss of consciousness (coma). If this happens to someone, immediately call an ambulance. In the meantime, do everything you can to lower the temperature of the body - cold water and wet sheets. It is interesting that thermal exhaustion , which is caused by excessive loss of fluid by the body at high temperature or vigorous exercise, is usually not accompanied by a significant fever. Symptoms often occur during rest and copious drinking. One way to distinguish heat stroke from heat exhaustion is to touch the skin, which is hot and dry on impact and is wet and cold when exhausted.