fever and brain development

[strata]

I'm wondering if anybody has info in this,.. I was told many years ago that fever in infants and children plays an important role in the brains development, vaguely remembering something about the heat helping to fuse new synapses? I was told that suppressing fever with medication can be detrimental. My daughter is coming to the end of some (not too high) feverish days, and sometimes i feel wicked in my NP methods and should give some quick fix panadol or something.....

[~Luna~]

I don't know about the fusing synapses thing but I know that fevers serve a purpose for healing.
If you supress a fever then the body doesn't get rid of the infection/virus as fast.
Fever is a natural defense and if supressed it can lower immunity also.

The only time I use Panadol is for severe pain. My children seem to cope fine with fevers if there's no pain involved.
If they had seziures from high temps I would lower their temp with a bath before trying medications.

[peanut2007]

fever part of the bodies natural response to an "attack" wether it be virus or otherwise.
Luna is right it serve a purpose to heal as the heat supresses/kills the problem
I would personally recomend other methods of lowering temp if required before giving Panadol eg. bath or cold flannel on the back of the neck.
Be aware however that you start loosing braincells after 40 degrees.
Ive never heard of it helping to fuse synapses as that is an electrial response in the brain.
Personally providing the temp wasnt too high i would simply maintain fluid intake, and try alternative methods of cooling if and where possible.

Cheers

[Nyree]

As said above!

Children can generally go up to 38.5C (for up to 24 hours) before you need to consider cooling them (cool flannel, plenty of fluids, keep a bottle of Brauers Pain & Fever Relief handy if you really need something more).

First I've heard about fevers & brain synapses, too.

[hanabi]

Synapses wouldn't forge new pathways without new learning. I'm not sure that a fever would cause that kind of response however my kids have had hallucinations with severe fevers so I suppose in theory that's the brain firing away of it's own accord.

But too high, and too prolonged fever can have the opposite outcome and cause cell damage in the brain so....

[lcorteen]

Apologies if this is strongly worded - I feel quite strongly about this issue xx

Our wonderful paed is head of paeds at our local hospital and their standard policy is NOT to use anti-pyuretics (?) unless the child is distressed or the parents want it (which of course is often.. panadol, it's MY choice etc.)

The reason is because it inhibits healing. There have been twin studies where both are infected with the same fever causing virus and one is given anti-pyuretic, the other not. On average, the children not given fever suppressant got better 24 hrs quicker, supporting the theory that fever is an important part of the bodies immune system.

One of our DD's had a temp over 40 for 9 days. I kept her at home under our GPs supervision and did not give panandol, until she was eventually diagnosed with pneumonia (another story about why that took so long to diagnose...). She was very lethargic and slept a lot, but was not distressed, so I didn't medicate - just lots of love and care. I always figure that sleeping and resting when you're sick is good. I think panadol etc can make kids feel better, so they don't get the rest they need. Even though this may be more convenient for the parents, IMO it's not better for the kids.

The paed also said that the fear of convulsions is overrated... and that if they have not had a fit by the age of 3, they are very unlikely to. And that different kids have different 'normal' temps and different ranges of temps that they can get to. Our DD1 gets VERY high temps, DD2 doesn't - according to him this is just part of the natural variation of life, which makes sense to me.

Originally Posted by peanut2007

Be aware however that you start loosing braincells after 40 degrees.

Is it possible to know where this info came from, as I'd like to read it?

I don't feel bad when I don't give my kids pharmaceuticals... I feel bad when I do, though I know sometimes they are necessary (like when your daughter has pneumonia).

xx

[peanut2007]

ill have alook through my paper work and see if i can find it, im a paramedic and it was in some of our training material

Be aware however that you start loosing braincells after 40 degrees.

ill get back to you

Cheers

[Nyree]

Just been looking it up & it seems 42C is the danger point.

A couple of sites:

MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia: Fever
Pediatric Advisor 2006.2: Myths and Facts about Fever

[lcorteen]

Thanks Nyree - the myths and facts is a great site.

xx

[starbuckozzie]

I have read in a couple of different books that major developmental milestones (e.g. sitting, crawling, walking) are often reached after a high fever. Can't remember exactly where but possibly Dr. Sears or Aviva Jill Romm.