Dispelling Health Myths: Fevers Are NOT Bad

Flu season has hit with a vengeance. I hear many people talk about how many in their family have fallen ill with the flu virus, and all the strategies they have used to get themselves and their loved ones through it. Almost inevitably, I hear about people using acetaminophen to lower a fever. This strategy is ultimately misguided, and blunts the body’s ability to heal itself. It may even cause an illness to last longer than it needs to.

A fever is the body’s way of killing off a bacterial or viral infection. It is, in the vast majority of cases, not a dangerous symptom to be frightened about. For children, a temperature of up to 105° is not a cause for concern; it is instead a sign that the body is mounting a healthy response to a foreign invader. This is particularly true if a child has a high fever, but otherwise shows little sign of illness. (For adults, a temperature up to 103-104° is healthy.) Indeed, in some cases, it may be beneficial to stimulate a fever if it is not high enough.

So how does a fever come about? If a flu virus, for example, is detected in your body by an immune cell called a macrophage, it eats the flu virus up, then sends a signal to the hypothalamus. This signal tells the hypothalamus (basically the control center of the body) to raise the body’s “thermostat.” You respond by shivering and feeling chills. You may also cover yourself up and try to warm yourself. This results in a fever.

Fevers are actually effective immune stimulants. When the body temperature is elevated, white blood cells are produced at a higher rate, and they are released into circulation more quickly. Antibody production is increased up to 20 times the normal rate as well!

Moreover, fevers provide an inhospitable environment for invading organisms. Many harmful bacteria cannot thrive in temperatures above the body’s normal temperature of 98.6° F, and growth rates of many viruses are decreased significantly.

Finally, fevers often decrease appetite, which is why you seldom see people with fevers craving food. This is a normal and important aspect of fighting colds and flus. The body expends 60% of its energy digesting food. When you fast for awhile (e.g., when you have a fever), your body suddenly has that much more energy it can put toward fighting an infection.

Knowing all this, is there a reason why you would want to decrease a fever? The answer should be, in most cases, “no.”

There are certain issues with fevers that should be addressed. If a fever does get too high, the best way to decrease it is to rub the body down vigorously with a tepid washcloth; this will allow blood to move toward the surface of the skin, releasing heat naturally. Also, febrile seizures are a cause for concern, but are usually the result of dehydration and/or an electrolyte imbalance; making sure someone who has a fever is drinking plenty of fluids with electrolytes often will prevent febrile seizures.

Indications for hospitalization include a fever in children that stays above 105° for prolonged periods (or in adults if it stays above 104°), or febrile seizures, particularly if they last longer than 15 minutes.

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Do you have health issues that aren't being adequately addressed by traditional medicine? Naturopathic care may be the answer you're looking for. Visit my website for more information about naturopathic medicine, and begin your journey toward optimal health!

By The Numbers: Vitamin D

0-25 - Level of vitamin D (measured in nanograms per milliliter, or ng/mL) that gives a diagnosis of Vitamin D Deficiency Syndrome, when accompanied by two or more of the following: osteoporosis, heart disease, hypertension, autoimmune diseases, certain cancers, depression, chronic fatigue, or chronic pain.

50 - Minimum acceptable blood level of vitamin D (in ng/mL) for optimal function.

75-125 - Ideal level (in ng/mL) of vitamin D.

200 - Amount of IUs (international units) recommended by the US Food & Drug Administration per day for adults to prevent osteomalacia - not for optimal health.

400 - Amount of IUs recommended by the US Food & Drug Administration per day for children to prevent rickets - again, not for optimal health.

5,000 - Amount of IUs recommended for adults to boost Vitamin D levels by 50 ng/mL within 3 months.

10,000 - Amount of IUs recommended for adults to boost vitamin D levels by 100 ng/mL within 3 months.

20,000 - Average amount of IUs generated by individuals when sunbathing in the summer with maximum skin exposure, for roughly 15 minutes.

156,000–2,604,000 - Amount of IUs a man unknowingly took daily for 2 years, which produced one of the few documented instances of vitamin D toxicity. He recovered with sunblock, steroids, and discontinuing the (poorly measured) vitamin D supplement.

Source: Vitamin D Council

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Do you have health issues that aren't being adequately addressed by conventional medicine? Naturopathic care may be the answer you're looking for. Visit my website for more information about naturopathic medicine, and begin your journey toward optimal health!

The Common Cold, the Flu, and Probiotics for Children

Calling all parents! Especially those who are concerned about their children getting colds and (swine) flu this season!

Can you imagine a drug that could decrease your child's sick time this season by half...possibly more? Well, it's not a drug. It's a supplement of the beneficial bacteria in your intestines that actually can help to increase your child's immunity this season.

A colleague of mine recently shared something he read in the journal Pediatrics. The most recent issue (August 2009) showed the results of a study that examined 326 children between the ages of 3 and 5. These children were divided up into three groups. They received one the following supplements twice a day for six months:

• A placebo.
• A probiotic supplement consisting only of Lactobacillus acidophilus (commonly found in yogurt).
• A combination probiotic supplement with L. acidophilus and another strain, Bifidobacterium animalis lactis.

It appears that probiotics are not just for intestinal problems. The findings of this study were astounding. Children given the probiotics suffered significantly fewer fevers, less coughing, and less runny/stuffy noses throughout the cold season. And the children given the combination probiotic supplement saw the fewest fevers and coughing/runny nose incidents. How much less?

• Fever incidents: 53% fewer with single probiotic; 72% fewer with combo probiotic.
• Coughing incidents: 41% fewer with single probiotic; 62% fewer with combo probiotic.
• Runny nose incidents: 28% fewer with single probiotic; 59% fewer with combo probiotic.

Needless to say, children on probiotics did not need to go on antibiotics as often when they got sick, and they needed to stay home from day care or school less often.
To get these probiotics, your best choice is to consult a naturopathic doctor who carries these probiotics. Often, probiotics found over the counter do not contain what they say they do. Naturopathic doctors usually have access to the highest quality supplements, often only available to health care professionals. Where can you find a naturopathic doctor? Well, for one, there's the one who wrote this article! I do carry a combination probiotic product in an online store like the one in this study. If you are interested, feel free to contact me for more information. If you would prefer to see a naturopathic doctor in person that may be near you, you may check out the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians online directory.
May you and your children be healthy and happy this season!
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Do you have health issues that aren't being adequately addressed by conventional medicine? Naturopathic care may be the answer you're looking for. Visit my website for more information about naturopathic medicine, and begin your journey toward optimal health!

The Sad Story of Zicam

Nationwide, the Zicam cold remedy nasal gel was ordered to be pulled off the shelves on Tuesday, June 16th. The charge was simply that using the nasal gel could lead to anosmia, or a permanent loss of smell. Indeed, 130 people had reported a loss of smell after using Zicam. As a rather randomly-chosen Dr. Charles Lee points out, anosmia goes much further than merely not being able to appreciate a rose or a home cooked meal. “People without the sense of smell may not be able to detect life dangerous situations, such as gas leaks or something burning in the house,” he says.

But why did the Zicam nasal gel cause anosmia? The answer is actually quite simple. Zinc is the culprit. In this case, it takes the form of zinc gluconate. Zinc has been known in the past to cause loss of smell when used intranasally. (One of my brilliant colleagues wrote about this very issue, first back in 2006, then again two years later.) Worse, studies using intranasal zinc gluconate to treat the common cold did not show an appreciable difference in the duration or severity of symptoms. They did show a risk of potentially irreversible anosmia.

Another issue: how did this product get placed on the shelves in the first place? Usually, it’s the Food and Drug Administration that dictates whether or not a drug is able to be put on the shelf. But Zicam got past this by stating that the active ingredient was homeopathic zinc gluconate. The FDA does not regulate homeopathic remedies, and so was not beholden to restrict the sale of Zicam. But in this case, the matter was all semantics. Specifically, the active ingredient was zincum gluconicum 1X. This is a homeopathic way of saying “a 10% solution of zinc gluconate.” Usually, homeopathic remedies are very dilute…dilute to the point where some of the most powerful remedies don’t have a single molecule of the original substance in them. (How and why these remedies work is an issue for another post.) But if not dilute enough, these remedies can exhibit properties of their original substance – precisely because they contain that substance. And a 10% solution of zinc gluconate certainly qualifies.

This is one of those instances where something that seems harmless or beneficial may end up being quite harmful. Many people are drawn to alternative medicine precisely because they feel it is less harmful than drugs – and in many instances they are right. But this is not always the case. Are herbs safe to use? Not if they’re herbs like foxglove (from which we get the highly regulated heart medication digitalis) or poison hemlock (which Socrates drank to commit government-ordered suicide). Similarly, are nutrients safe? Usually, yes, but as we now know, not if it’s zinc applied to the inside of the nose.

Another disturbing aspect of the Zicam issue is that blame is being wrongly placed on the whole practice of homeopathy. As I mentioned above, it was not the homeopathic quality of zinc that caused the cases of anosmia. It was the zinc itself. An article by the Associated Press about this issue misrepresents homeopathy as a whole. Dr. Jerry Avorn, an expert in pharmaceutical safety at Harvard dismisses homeopathy as having only alcohol as the active ingredient, saying “the therapeutic effect is no greater or lesser than a martini.” The article’s author also discovered that some homeopathic remedies are composed of more than 10% alcohol, when the American Academy of Pediatrics dictates no medicine contain more than 5% alcohol. All three entities might be surprised to know that a homeopathic dose usually consists of a pellet or two or a drop or two of the remedy in the mouth – hardly enough to give either adult or child an alcohol “buzz-on,” as Dr. Avorn claims.

It’s a sad issue. Zicam willfully deceived both the FDA and the public in an effort to get its product out to consumers wanting to treat their colds effectively. Thousands of consumers bought Zicam’s products, thinking that since it was homeopathic, natural, herbal, and/or non-pharmaceutical, it was safe. And as a result, scores of people have permanently lost one of their vital senses.

But what can we take from this? Some people might consider this evidence of the “snake oil” nature of alternative medicine. It isn’t. It’s evidence of greed taking precedence over the health of the public, and greed is not limited to alternative medicine. It may also be an indication that alternative medicine should be regulated more, although I have great doubts about the ability of the FDA to effectively regulate this profession. It is possible to view this as a societal need for qualified health care professionals who are thoroughly trained in the realm of natural medicine – and naturopathic doctors are precisely those health care professionals.

If you are prone to cold and the flu, it’s definitely a good idea to see if you can deal with issues from a natural perspective, with the help of a naturopathic doctor. Check my website out for more information about naturopathic medicine, and what it might be able to do for you. And be well.

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Do you have health issues that aren't being adequately addressed by conventional medicine? Naturopathic care may be the answer you're looking for. Visit my website for more information about naturopathic medicine, and begin your journey toward optimal health!