The Beneficial Nature of Fever
Fever is generally regarded as an enemy to be fought and defeated. The majority of patients and their families feel fear at the appearance of a fever, a fear that grows stronger with the intensity of the fever and faithfully follows its ups and downs. Fever is far too often identified as the disease itself or its worst aspect, with all therapeutic efforts targeted on getting rid of it. Peace of mind for the patient or the parent of a feverish child returns only when the fever has vanished.
Yet fever is an intentional action produced by the body to defend itself. Fever’s beneficial nature has been emphasized by numerous health professionals.
Thomas Sydenham, the seventeenth-century physician known as the father of English medicine, wrote, “Now, an imposthume [abscess] is the instrument of nature whereby she expels whatever injures the fleshy part, as a fever is her instrument to carry off whatever is prejudicial to the blood. In this case, therefore, it is the business of the physician to assist nature.”
According to Paul Carton (1875–1947), one of the great pioneers of natural medicine in France, “Fever simply represents the escalated combustion of bad materials, of poisons put into circulation. It performs a salutary act of neutralizing toxins, a defensive work of metabolic improvement without which wastes could not be accepted and eliminated by the emunctory organs.”
Édouard Auber (1804–1873), an expert on the work of Hippocrates, states in his own Philosophie de la medicine, “Fever is one of the most powerful healing methods employed by nature.”
André Passbecq (1920–2010), one of the best known naturopathic doctors in France, writes “Nothing works as well against illness as a good fever. . . . Fever can be a source of discomfort but, thanks to it, pathogenic substances and toxins are promptly broken down and eliminated. It is a correct action designed to prevent poisoning by cellular toxins, poisons, and infections. The temperature will remain high as long as the bulk of the toxins have not been eliminated.”
Naturopath M. Platen wrote, “Fever is an agent of healing and not a specific morbid state of the body.” French naturopath Pierre Valentin Marchesseau (1911–1994) echoes this sentiment: “Fever is a means of self-defense.” And American alternative health advocate Herbert M. Shelton (1895–1985) remarked that “fever denotes poisoning.”
USING FEVER AS THERAPY
Fever possesses so many therapeutic benefits that a variety of practitioners, aware of its usefulness, have sought means for creating it artificially. These pyrotherapy techniques included injections of substances that would not be tolerated by the body in order to force the body to defend itself by creating a fever. The substances used were primarily proteins from milk or other foods, or germs. But why were proteins used?
The human body possesses proteins made from combinations of amino acids specific to each individual. This means that the proteins in the body are different from any proteins it receives from outside. Moreover, the immune system is capable of telling the difference between its own proteins and those of foreign origin.
Of course, foods carry foreign proteins into the body. However, these proteins are normally broken down into amino acids during the digestive process. These amino acids, following their assimilation, are reassembled into proteins specifically designed for the needs of the individual body. Therefore, the food proteins humans receive from external sources only ever enter the blood and tissues in the form of amino acids.
In pyrotherapy the opposite of the natural process is intentionally implemented: proteins are injected directly into the bloodstream. The body feels their presence as a serious threat and unleashes all the means necessary to defend itself: acceleration of blood flow, multiplication of lymphocytes, escalation of metabolic activities, and increased eliminations, all of which, in turn, trigger a fever.
For the most part, these pyrotherapy methods have been abandoned because of the numerous problems they caused due to their anti-physiological nature. The fact remains, nonetheless, that the practice was based on a correct evaluation of the healing virtues of fever.
Fortunately, there is a physiological process that exists for intentionally creating fever: thermal baths, a subject we will revisit in greater depth later. With a hot bath, a person can easily and rapidly escalate and intensify the metabolic activities and defense reactions of the body, which will produce a temporary fever. This method is something that can be turned to for preventive purposes. By correcting the biological terrain, you can prevent illnesses from finding an opportunity to develop.
FEVER IS A WELCOME FRIEND NOT A FOE TO SLAY
Many people find it surprising that fever can be considered a friend and ally rather than something that should be thwarted. But, as we have seen, fever is evidence of the intense labor performed by the body to break down and eliminate toxic substances and germs. Fever is nothing but the consequence of the defensive activity engendered by the body itself as a means of protection. Countering it would therefore be extremely disadvantageous.
During infectious diseases, the salutary effect of fever is twofold. On the one hand, raising the temperature of the body makes the environment untenable for the germs. These high heats are, in fact, fatal to them. Germs can thrive at the regular body temperature of 98.6°F but let the temperature rise a few degrees to 102°F, 103°F, or 104°F and their living conditions are made adverse to their continued existence. The heat will greatly weaken the germs and severely limit their ability to reproduce.
Fever also alters the living conditions of germs by purifying the terrain, the interior cellular environment of the body. Just like mosquitoes require the stagnant waters of marshes and swamps to thrive, germs need a terrain overloaded with wastes in order to survive and multiply. So, once the biological terrain has been cleansed, it becomes unfavorable for their continued existence and precipitates their disappearance.
Fever is the body’s preferred method for treating itself. Consequently, fevers should not be lowered or eliminated thoughtlessly. Cutting a fever short goes against common sense. It would amount to hoping a patient can be cured while opposing every attempt that is made to heal them.
The Benefits of Fever
• Burns away toxins
• Eliminates toxins
• Weakens germs
• Stimulates the immune system
• Accelerates the transportation of lymphocytes to the site of infection
Stopping a fever is justified only when the profusion of germs overtaxes the patient’s weakened state. If the germs have multiplied in too high a number and are too virulent, the defenses of the patient may no longer be powerful enough to counter them. There is a risk of irreversible and fatal lesions.
In these extreme cases, which are also extremely uncommon, a treatment based on antibiotics and antipyretics is essential. The antipyretic or febrifuge artificially lowers the temperature of the body and provides relief to the patient. Antibiotics will kill the germs in place of the body’s defense system. In the majority of cases, though, the fever should be respected; the body is fully capable of stamping out the infection with its own forces. The immune system exists precisely for this purpose.
Halting a fever prevents the body from killing the germs attacking it and from burning away the poisons that are stagnating in its terrain. It also prevents these toxins from being transported to the excretory organs where they can be eliminated. In addition to these toxins that are forced deeper into the tissues, when antipyretics are used the body also has to deal with the poisons imported by these medicines. Abruptly halting the healing process counteracts the body’s reactive forces, paralyses its defense system, and breaks the spontaneous forms of resistance it manifests. The toxins produced by the infecting germs and the cadavers of these same germs will not be eliminated properly. The biological terrain remains overloaded, and, consequently, a true healing cannot take place. When the fundamental problem—the deteriorated state of the terrain, which makes it receptive to germs—is not addressed, this will lead to relapses and recurrences, complications and aggravations.
If a flu is cut short, the patient will suffer its lingering effects for the rest of the winter. She will be fatigued and lack vitality because her defense reactions have been smothered. The damaged terrain, which has provided a comfortable bed for the flu, will remain in poor condition. When an upper respiratory tract infection is halted, it will return again and again. If it is again brought to a premature end, bronchitis may result. If this bronchitis is cut short, it may degenerate into pneumonia. The patient will go from one illness to another because the primary disorder, the overloaded biological terrain, remains untreated.
In contrast, what a resurgence of energy, resistance, and joy in living can be experienced when the fever is allowed to do its work.
The propensity to cut fevers short has certainly brought about a diminishing number of acute illnesses, but the consequence of this has been an increase in the number of chronic diseases. By systematically thwarting the body’s natural healing efforts, anti-fever therapies that repress symptoms only increase the contaminants in the biological terrain, which, over time, leads to the major lesions and functional disorders of chronic disease.
The objection that is most commonly raised against taking a more respectful approach to fever is based on the danger to the patient’s very survival caused by too high a rise in temperature. Of course, this danger is real. But refusing to cut short a fever, in other words, respecting its existence and purpose, does not mean doing nothing. Respecting fever means understanding its action, supporting its work (when, and if, necessary), and temporarily curbing it if it becomes too severe. Practical means for doing this are provided in the second part of this book.
Summary
Fever is not an enemy to be beaten back; it is simply the consequence of defensive reactions engendered by the body itself. Cutting short a fever means cutting off the work of these natural physical defenses.