Fevers- More Good Than Harm?

Fevers are not an illness, but they are critical in helping your body fight a plethora of ailments. By raising the temperature of the entire body, a fever is attempting to make conditions for viruses and bacteria less than the ideal 98.6 degrees that the average body's temperature is. A fever also signals the body to get to work creating more antibodies, white blood cells, and other entities that battle infection. Fever in children has to be incredibly high before it can cause brain damage, and contrary to what many parents believe, a fever will not keep climbing higher and higher if left alone.

For an adult, a fever is not something to be overly concerned with until it exceeds 103 degrees. Infants and kids are a different story, but only in that even a slight fever can indicate an infection of some sort is troubling their system. The average person's body temperature can fluctuate throughout the course of the day; as low as 97 degrees and as high as 99. The body's temperature is usually lower in the morning and higher later in the afternoon and evening. The 98.6 degree figure in reality has a plus/minus variance of about a degree. A region at the base of the brain known as the hypothalamus acts like a thermostat, regulating the temperature of your system. When something is amiss, the hypothalamus dials it up a notch as it detects chemicals in the bloodstream released by toxins, raising the temperature in order to fight the invading illness or condition. At the onset of the fever, you will feel chilly and may even start to shiver, but when your entire body gets to the new temperature, you will then feel hot. As the fever breaks, you will sweat, as your system dispels the extra heat.