Fieber Anhang

 

Hilfsmaßnamen. 

 

In der anthroposophischen Medizin haben äußere Anwendungen eine besondere Bedeutung. Neuralgie gefährdete Menschen können sich durch Einreiben mit WALA Aconit

Schmerzöl vor Wind und Wetter schützen. Rheumatische o. verspannungsbedingte Muskelschmerz lindert Aconit Schmerzöl schnell. WALA Aconit Ohrentropfen helfen

-frühzeitig gegeben- zuverlässig bei Ohrenschmerz. Viele akute und chronische Erkrankungen können durch einen bewussten Umgang mit der eigenen Körperwärme verhindern.

Eine chronische Nasennebenhöhlenentzündung wird bei ständig kalten Füßen nur schwer zu heilen sein. Unzureichende Bekleidung kann chronische Blasen- und Nierenbeschwerden

geradezu „heranzüchten“. Das bedeutet auch, dass man Fieber bereits im Kindesalter zulassen und den Sinn von fieberhaften Kinderkrankheiten respektieren sollte. Gerade weil der

Wärmeorganismus auch der Träger des geistigen Menschen ist, sollte uns seine Pflege besonders am Herzen liegen.

 

[Phillip Incao, M.D.] received his M.D. in 1966 from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, and then studied Anthroposophic Medicine in England and Switzerland.

He practiced family medicine in Harlemville, NY for 23 years, then in Denver for 10 years and is now semi-retired in Crestone, Colorado.

JLML: Dr. Incao, can you give us a thumbnail sketch of what Anthroposophic medicine is?

PI: Certainly. Anthroposophic medicine is an extension of Western medicine based on the teachings of the visionary Austrian scientist Rudolf Steiner. It takes into account not just the

physical body, but also the spirit, the soul, and the life force or "chi" of the human being. All of these aspects of the human being work together in human physiology and pathology, and we

need to consider all of them in healing. Through working with these principles in my practice since 1971, I’ve gradually come to learn the deeper levels of human illness and healing.

 

JLML: One of the hallmarks of your treatment approach is that fevers are beneficial, and that by suppressing a fever with Tylenol or antibiotics, we're often doing a child more harm than good.

PI: That's very true. We have a tyranny of fear in the U.S. about fevers and infections, which is understandable, but which is a terrible obstacle to healing what ails us as individuals and as a

society. At the turn of the 19th to the 20th century many children died of pneumonia, scarlet fever or diphtheria. Today U.S. children very rarely die from any of the acute infectious/inflammatory

feverish illnesses that often claimed their lives before 1900. That has more to do with modern progress in plumbing, sanitation, hygiene and even literacy, than with medical interventions such

as vaccinations and antibiotics. In any case, it’s very important to understand that it’s our own immune system that creates our fevers and that fevers are our main defence against our body’s toxicity

and the germs which feed on that toxicity. Parents are over-anxious to lower a fever, and assume that when it goes down the child is healthy, which is often not the case.

We have a mindset that says it's bad to have an illness, and that health is the absence of illness. This isn't always true. Fever is the healing flame, the great cleanser of the body, and a critical

part of developing a child's immune system. An immune system that is vigorously exercised through fevers in childhood is a much stronger and more able adult immune system than one that

has been suppressed since birth with vaccinations, antibiotics and fever-reducing medications. The "use it or lose it" adage applies well here.

 

JLML: Why do you think it is that children have more fevers, and higher fevers, than adults?

PI: Children often get fevers when they are stressed. Also, childhood is the time of most rapid growth and dramatic change, and a child will remodel and renew his body many times as he

grows. Every remodeling job requires some demolition, a breaking down of old cells and tissues which results in toxic waste and debris, which the body normally cleans up as it rebuilds new

cells and tissues. This demolition, cleansing and rebuilding is silently going on in us all the time through our immune system, but more so in growing children. Every so often this ongoing inner

remodeling process of the immune system shifts into high gear, either because we are unknowingly taking a bigger developmental step than usual, or because we’ve become toxic from too much stress.

This shifting into high gear inwardly of our immune system has an unwelcome outer result, it makes us sick with inflammation, fever and discharge of mucus. Thus, we come down with a

cold, flu, vomiting, diarrhea, strep throat, etc. In this way the immune system expels from the body mucus, pus, germs and other toxic waste and debris that have been nourishing the germs.

The crucial fact is that the symptoms of the illness are also the healing of the illness. That is because the symptoms are caused by inflammation, and inflammation is what our immune

system does in order to detoxify and heal us. There is tremendous confusion in modern thinking, by both doctors and consumers, on the healing function of acute inflammation, as opposed to

chronic inflammation.

When we diminish symptoms with Tylenol, ibuprofen, decongestants or antibiotics, at the same time we diminish the healing, cleansing, expulsive power of our innate immune system.

It follows that repeated use of such drugs cools down the acute, hot inflammatory response of our innate immune system, thus increasing our tendency to allergies, asthma and other cool,

chronic inflammations.

 

JLML: So do germs cause us to become ill?

PI: Well, we all live in balance with trillions of germs in our bodies from soon after birth throughout life, including some nasty bugs, and we only get ill when other factors and stressors

disturb this balance. Germs usually act more like scavengers than predators. At a deeper level germs don’t really cause illness, but they certainly feed on them, and they intensify them by

triggering our immune system to create inflammation, i.e., fever, pain, redness and swelling.

Every inflammation, in children or adults, every cold, sore throat, earache, fever and rash is a “healing crisis.” A healing crisis is an intense action of the immune system to cleanse and

detoxify the body. It is a strong effort by the human spirit to remodel the body so it can be a more suitable dwelling.

 

JLML: Wow, that's a different and beautiful way to look at a process that every parent goes through many times during childhood.

PI: Yes, and this process continues throughout our adult life. It’s a process of development and growth on all levels of our humanness.

It's amazing what a different parental attitude toward a fever can do for a child's healing process. Children seem to intuitively know this is something they need. Children usually don’t have

severe aches and pains with their fevers that adults suffer, because children’s bodies are less dense and hardened than adult bodies, and offer less resistance

PI: It's amazing what a different attitude toward a fever can do for a child's healing process. They seem to intuitively know this is something they need, and they don't suffer as much from a

fever as an adult does. It's not at all unusual for me to see a child with a fever, happily playing, that would have put an adult in bed.

 

JLML: But that doesn't mean they should be running around outside, right?

PI: Oh no, definitely not. This is a time when the child should rest, and it's extremely important for them to stay warm. My general rule of thumb is to dress them warmly enough so that their

cheeks are rosy and their hands and feet are warm, but there is no sweat or perspiration. The body needs to be hot to burn out the illness. If the body is harboring a lot of toxicity, then a discharging

fever with a runny nose, vomiting, or diarrhea for example, could be just the housecleaning that the body needs. The discharge is a sign that the fever and inflammation produced by the immune

system is "digesting" toxins and releasing them. Most people are actually healthier after they've had a fever.

 

JLML: So much for germ theory!

PI: In its time, germ theory was a great revelation. The discovery that bacteria could influence the course of illness helped us Create a whole new level of public and private hygiene, which has

given our immune systems much less work to do in some respects. But germ theory is very limited. There was an article in Scientific American way back in 1955, titled, "Second Thoughts on the

Germ Theory,"about the observation that everyone harbors disease germs, but not everyone is sick. The conclusion was that whether or not we get sick depends on the condition of the host your

body more than it does on the germs.

So we've known for a long time that germs feed on disease and waist, they don't directly cause it. That's why I prefer the word "inflammation" to the misunderstood and misleading word "infection"

which strikes so much fear into people's hearts. In the case of inflammations involving germs, the germs are doing us a favor by helping to cleanse the body.

 

JLML: We've been so conditioned to think of fevers as dangerous, how does a parent know when it's serious?

PI: Even mainstream medicine agrees that a child's fever would have to go over 106.5° before there is even a risk of brain, damage, but most parents think that the magic number is 104° F.

Our culture is "fever-phobic," a term coined by Barton Schmidt, a professor of pediatrics at the Children's Hospital in Denver.

A typical parent will give a child a fever-reducing medicine if the temperature is one degree above normal. What that does is send whatever was trying to come out of the body into " deep storage."

Nothing has really gone away, and it will either simply recur or worse, may re-emerge as a different, more chronic illness anywhere from weeks to years later.

A good example of this is the repeated earaches children get when the first earache is not really healed but is only suppressed by an antibiotic. Although they can be lifesaving when really needed,

when given unnecessarily, antibiotics actually weaken the immune system.

 

JLML: What about febrile seizures? The great fear of every parent is that their child will run a high fever and have a seizure.

PI: This is another example where parents have been unnecessarily scared out of their wits. The first misconception is that a febrile (fever-caused) seizure, also called a fever convulsion, is directly

caused by a high fever. This isn't totally accurate, because 99% of kids have a high fever and don't get a seizure, and kids who do get a febrile seizure often don't have that high a temperature

A seizure is caused when the fever rises very rapidly, often before the parent even knows ifs there. Some children will get a febrile seizure because the body doesn't go with the flow of the fever

warmth surging through it. This often happens when the hands and feet are too cold and the fever gets "stuck" in the head.

The other misconception is that febrile seizures cause permanent brain damage they don't. Generally, if a convulsion has not occurred in the first 24 hours of the fever, then it is not likely to occur.

The best way to avoid a fever convulsion is to keep the child warm and give plenty of fluids, so that the heat of the fever can circulate throughout the body. If the child is throwing off the blankets,

at least keep the belly, legs, and feet warm.

 

JLML: When should a parent see the doctor about a fever?

PI: I don't have a set answer for that question. It depends on the parents, the child, the doctor, and the specific details of the illness. Once my patients have gone through a few fevers with their children,

I rarely hear from them unless the fever looks like it might go above 104° F, but every parent has to use their judgement and intuition.

 

[Dr. med. Friedrich P. Graf]

Keine Krankheit, sondern eine großartige Leistung des Organismus, sich aktiv gegen den Angriff vorzüglich fremder Erreger (Bakterien/Viren/Trauma) zu wehren.

Insbesondere bei Kindern ist die Fähigkeit schnell, leicht, hoch und kurz (1 - 3 Tage) zu fiebern, Ausdruck von guter Gesundheit.

Es ist auffällig und bedenklich, wenn Kinder nicht fiebern können. Glücklicherweise ist dies nur selten zu beobachten. Es fällt aber auf, dass diese Kinder breit durchgeimpft sind und häufiger beim

ersten Fieber senkende Arzneien (Fieberzäpfchen) oder frühzeitig Antibiotika erhielten. Bei Erwachsenen kann dieses immunologische "Training" jährlich mit den saisonalen Grippewellen durchgeführt

werden. Bleibt die Fieberreaktion bei "Banalinfekten" aus, wächst die Neigung zu chronischen Verläufen. Wird kein Fieber mehr entwickelt, droht langfristig unkontrollierbares, autoaggressives

Geschehen ("Krebs").

Es ist eindrucksvoll, wie sich im Zustand hohen Fiebers "moderne" Krankheiten wie Neurodermitis o. Asthma bronchiale bessern. Auch Krebserkrankungen werden durch Fieber zurückgedrängt, was

heute in der "künstlichen Fiebertherapie" nachzuahmen versucht wird. Dabei werden aber nur selten Temperaturen über 39° erreicht.

Zum Verständnis vom Umgang mit Fieber ist der natürliche Ablauf wichtig:

1. Phase nach "Fremdkontakt" bemüht sich der Organismus um die Wärmeentwicklung durch Muskelzittern der gesamten Willkürmuskulatur. Wir empfinden Frost!

Dieser Zustand erfordert einen hohen Energieaufwand, alles konzentriert sich auf diese Fähigkeit und alles andere ruht:

kein Bedürfnis für Essen, Trinken, menschliche Nähe oder Unterhaltung. Alle Körperfunktionen, Gemüt und Geist ruhen. Es finden keinerlei Ausscheidungen statt und Trockenheit dominiert (kein

Schwitzen, kein Stuhlgang, kein Reden, etc.).

Im Höhepunkt steigt die Körpertemperatur über 39° C an. Die "Hitze" führt zur Beschleunigung der Durchblutung und aller Stoffwechsel- und Abwehrfunktionen.

Erleichtert wird die Abwehrarbeit durch die Schwächung und Inaktivierung der Bakterien und Viren ab 38,5° C. Die lebensnotwendigsten Organe werden besonders durchblutungsgesteigert

(Leber/Herz/Hirn) und die "Peripherie" (Glieder) erkaltet eher. Die Fähigkeit, das Fieber zu begrenzen, wird nun bedeutungsvoll. Je jünger der Mensch, umso schneller und höher steigt die Temperatur (41° C).

2. Phase reguliert der Organismus die Temperatursenkung und seine erneute Harmonisierung mit den Ausscheidungen. Durch die Schweißbildung und der oberflächlichen Verdunstungskälte (Konvektion)

kommt es zur merklichen Temperatursenkung. Zugleich steigt die Urinbildung an und es entsteht Verlangen zu ruhen in Erschöpfung. Wir empfinden die übergroße innere Hitze und suchen deren Linderung

(leichte Bedeckung, Kühlung, Kleiderwechsel), oft kommt nun auch Trinkbedürfnis und Ansprechbarkeit mit innerer Beruhigung und steigendem Wohlbefinden.

Aus diesen beiden gegensätzlichen Phasen [zuerst hohe Erregung (Symphatiskotonus), dann generelle Entspannung (Vagotonus)] leiten sich zunächst die natürlichen Hilfestellungen ab:

1. Phase: Unterstützung durch Wärmezufuhr mittels Bedeckung, Wärmflasche an die Füße, Reizabschirmung und Ruhe.

2. Phase: Lockerung der Bedeckung, Entfernen der Plastikwindel (!), Hautabreibung mit lauwarmer Kochsalzlösung, Förderung der Ausscheidung durch Flüssigkeitszufuhr (Fruchtsäfte, Mineralwasser, gesüßte Tees, Salziges) und Darmeinlauf (mit Gummiklistier, milden Kamillentee mit 0,9 % Kochsalz- und 5% Traubenzucker-Zusätzen in den Enddarm eingeben), fasten lassen (!), Ruhe, Abschirmung und menschliche Nähe garantieren.

Was ist zu beachten:

    dass es individuelle Unterschiede gibt und dass man diesen Einzelbedürfnissen nicht zuwiderhandeln sollte.

    dass in der Frostphase Kälte vermieden wird (trotz hohem Fieber!)

    Möglichst keine Wadenwickel und auf keinen Fall in der 1. Phase o. an kalten Glieder!

    Fasten lassen, nicht zum Essen zwingen.

    Bettruhe einhalten, wenn die Körpertemperatur über 38° steigt.

    Zeit lassen für die Stabilisierung nach dem Fieber! Grundsätzlich noch einen fieberfreien Tag Schonung (überwiegend Bettruhe und im Haus lassen)

    Mit Fieber niemals baden/nicht die Haare waschen (!), nicht ins Freie und nicht in die Sonne! (Temperaturanpassung kostet Kraft!)

    Keine fiebersenkenden Arzneien geben (in den ersten drei Tagen).

Homöopathische Arzneien wirken harmonisierend und helfen, Entgleisungen des natürlichen Verlaufes zu regulieren. Die Arzneiwahl richtet sich nach den zu beachtenden auffälligen, absonderlichen und ungewöhnlichen Symptomen und Verläufen des Einzelnen, des Individuums. Bei jeder Abweichung eines natürlichen und erträglichen Fieberverlaufes ist rasch deren Einsatz angezeigt.

Wie hoch darf das Fieber steigen?

Sicher ist ein Fieberanstieg über 41° unnatürlich und Ausdruck einer krankhaften Verfassung, die zwischen den Fieberphasen (möglichst homöopathisch) ganzheitlich zu behandeln ist.

Den Fieberanstieg zu begrenzen ist ebenso Ausdruck von gesunder Abwehrkraft und Stabilität, wie die Fähigkeit, auf über 40° zu steigen!

Dass ein Kind Fieber hat, erkennen und fühlen Eltern schnell und leicht. Ein Fieberthermometer ist an sich unnötig, und lenkt nur ab von der genauen Beobachtung des Kindes. Vielmehr ist die Verfassung des

Kindes, sein Verhalten während des Fiebers ausschlaggebend. Es ist keine Seltenheit, dass allgemein stabile Kinder akut Fieber über 40° entwickeln können, damit zur Ruhe gehen und Schlaf finden oder damit

gar phasenweise regelrecht spielen und unauffällig trinken und ausscheiden. Hier ist keine besondere Maßnahme notwendig, außer der Beobachtung und Abschirmung des Kindes.

 

Der Fieberkrampf ist eine an sich seltene, heute jedoch auffällig zunehmende (Impfschädigung?) Störung in der Fieberentwicklung. Er tritt bei Kleinkindern bis zum 5. Lebensjahr in der ersten ansteigenden Fieberphase und häufig bereits bei peripher erst gering ansteigenden Temperaturen (38 - 39°) auf. Er ist Ausdruck einer Entgleisung der hierarchischen Hirnfunktion durch örtliche Überhitzung und Durchblutungssteigerung im Gehirn. Es kommt zu unkontrollierten Verkrampfungen bei anhaltendem und gestiegenem Fieber. Es sieht alles aufregend aus und ist grundsätzlich harmlos und gutartig. Nur selten

hält der Krampf länger als 5 Minuten und die Benommenheit länger als 30 Minuten an, so dass drastische Sofortmaßnahmen erforderlich wären (Krampfmittel und Fiebersenkung).

Meistens reichen feuchte Hautabreibungen (lauwarme Salzwasserlösungen) und 3 homöopathische Arzneien in Folge:

    Bell. (bis zur Krampfentwicklung)

    Cupr-met. (im Krampf)

    Hell. (in der Phase der Benommenheit).

Ganz wichtig wird hier die homöopathische Behandlung im Intervall nach diesem ersten Ereignis. Fiebersenkung akut ist selten notwendig, denn nach den oben genannten Maßnahmen stabilisiert sich meistens der Fieberzustand mit regelrechter Krankheitsentwicklung. Der erste Fieberkrampf beeindruckt die Eltern verständlicherweise sehr. Schnell ist die Angst und Unsicherheit wieder da und führt zu unnötige, andauernde Verabreichung fiebersenkender

Arzneien und Antibiotika.

Vielmehr sollte die Besprechung dieses Ereignisses die Ruhe und Sicherheit der Eltern erhöhen, im Wiederholungsfall besonnen zu reagieren.

Ein Fieberkrampf ist harmlos und löst kein chronisches Krampfleiden aus. Nur ganz selten wird sich eine schon bestehende Epilepsie zuerst durch Fieberkrämpfe ankündigen. Eine neurologische Untersuchung (EEG) kommt erst im Wiederholungsfall infrage.

Vielmehr sollten von vornherein alle medizinischen Maßnahmen an dem Kind kritisch in Frage gestellt und die Reifung und Eigenentwicklung in jeder Lebensphase angemessen unterstützt werden.

Ein Kind (und später auch der erwachsene Mensch), ist (sind) als geschädigt zu betrachten, wenn es (er) nicht in der Lage ist zu fiebern!

 

ZEIT ONLINE

Wissen

Christoph Drösser

Stimmt es, dass man bei über 42° Fieber stirbt?

Stimmt. Die medizinischen Fachbücher geben die maximale Körpertemperatur, die ein Mensch überleben kann, mit 42,3° an. Es sollen aber auch schon Menschen eine kurzfristige Erwärmung auf 43° überlebt haben. Der Grund für diese Temperaturempfindlichkeit sind die Proteine, also Eiweiße, aus denen unser Körper aufgebaut ist. So wie das Eiweiß im Hühnerei schon bei relativ mäßigen Temperaturen gerinnt, "denaturieren" auch die menschlichen Proteine. Besonders im Hirn treten dann irreparable Schäden auf.

Sie brauchen aber in den meisten Fällen bei zunehmendem Fieber keine Angst zu haben, dass die Temperatur über alle Maßen steigt. Fieber wird ausgelöst durch eine "Sollwertverstellung" des biologischen Thermostaten, der im Gehirn sitzt, genauer gesagt im Hypothalamus. Der dreht die Temperatur hoch, wenn das körpereigene Abwehrsystem viel zu tun hat, aber er weiß eigentlich auch recht genau, wann es zu heiß wird. Gefährlich wird es, wenn dieser Thermostat selber gestört ist, etwa durch eine Hirnverletzung.

Ein ganz anderer Fall ist die so genannte Hyperthermie. Von der spricht man, wenn der Körper immer wärmer wird, weil das Kühlsystem die Hitze nicht mehr abführen kann (Beispiel:

Bösewicht sperrt James Bond in der Sauna ein). Gelangt der Mensch dann nicht bald in eine kühlere Umgebung, kommt es zum Hitzschlag und schließlich zum Tod.

 

[Dana Ullmann]

It is widely recognized that fever is a vital defense of the body in its efforts to fight infection. A fever enables the body to increase its production of interferon, an important antiviral substance that is critical for fighting infection. Fever also increases white blood cell mobility and activity, which are instrumental factors in fighting infection. Jane Brody, a long-time respected health columnist for the New York Times, reported back in 1982 on the healing benefits of fever. She noted, "A number of physicians, including pediatricians, are now suggesting that moderate fevers be allowed to run their course, for they may shorten the illness, potentiate the action of antibiotics and reduce the chances of spreading the infection to others."

Recognition that fever is beneficial has been known for more than 2.000 years, and historically, the healing benefits of fever are so substantial that many patients have actually been treated with ''fever therapy'' to aid their recovery from such ailments as cancer, syphilis, Tb. and even mania. However, in the 1800's, aspirin compounds that rapidly reduced fevers became commercially available, and the medical view of fever changed dramatically.

Since the mid-1800s, drug companies have successfully convinced conventional physicians and the general public to become vigilant in bringing down fevers, even sometimes using such drastic measures as cold baths and alcohol rubs along with aspirin.

In reference to the flu and fever, the bottom line is that it makes little sense to aggressively suppress the body's natural defenses against viral infection. There are, of course, some exceptions here. For instance, it may make sense to seek medical care if one's fever is above 104° for over six hours or in any fever in an infant under 4 months.

 

Calling Dr. Gupta: CNN's Correspondent Gives Himself Questionable Medical Advice

"Fever phobia" is so rampant that many usually intelligent people, including physicians and medical reporters, forget what they know about the inherent defenses of the body when they become sick.

On September 23, Sanjay Gupta, MD, CNN's chief medical correspondent, described his own experience in getting the H1NI flu while reporting from Afghanistan. Although Dr. Gupta reported that he experienced a "high fever," he never gave specifics, but it is unlikely over 104° F. The fact that Dr. Gupta was away from home and in war zone probably led him to want some relief of his fever, and because of this, he chose to take Tylenol. However, he certainly didn't help himself by taking this drug to suppress his fever.

It is therefore no wonder that he became the sickest he has ever become. Taking drugs that suppress fever disables the body's own defenses in fighting infection. It is akin to unscrewing the warning oil pressure light in your car as a way to get rid of that irritating red signal. Such "treatment" is not curative, and in fact, it can lead to much more serious problems.

Ironically, the word "symptom" derives from the words "sign" or "signal"...and just turning "off" a sign or signal is simply not smart, even if double-blind studies show that unscrewing the warning bulb is "effective" in turning the light off.

Ultimately, Dr. Gupta missed a great opportunity to educate the public about not taking fever-reducing drugs, except in certain extreme fevers. Perhaps this article will "light a fire" underneath him to do so.

 

The New Drug Pushers: Parents

In a 2007 survey of Australian parents published in a pediatrics journal, a shocking 91% of parents used fever-suppressing drugs in the treatment of their children's fever. Even more startling is the fact that this survey found that the medications were refused or spat out by the child in 44% of the cases, and yet, 62.4 of the parents actually used force to get their child to take these drugs, using different methods of ingestion (29.5%) or by using a suppository (20.8%).

It is interesting to note that children tend to have an inherent fear of doctors, and this fear may not simply be the result of getting injections from them. This fear may be an instinctual fear that what doctors offer them may not really be good for them, despite the seemingly short-term benefits of many drugs. It may be time for us to listen to our children.

Serious Problems from Aspirin and Acetaminophen

Many people minimize the problems from these common drugs, but do so at their own and their family's peril.

Children who get a viral infection and are given aspirin can lead to Reye's syndrome, a serious neurological condition that can cause death. Aspirin is also known to thin the blood and increase the chances of various bleeding disorders. Its use more or less doubles the risk of a severe gastrointestinal event, which in most cases can lead to hospitalization. Lower doses that people take to reduce heart problems only seem to decrease these risks by a small amount.

Many people take acetaminophen because it is not associated with increased bleeding. However, the general public is usually not aware of the fact that poison control centers in the US receive more calls as a result of an overdose of this drug than any other drug. (same in the U.K., Australia and New Zealand). Most commonly, overdoses of acetaminophen can lead to acute liver failure. In children, it has been associated with increased asthma and eczema symptoms.

Safer Solutions for the Flu...

Instead of using conventional drugs that suppress fevers or that inhibit other important defenses of the body, it makes more sense to use some type of natural medicines that mimic and augment the wisdom of the body.

Homeopathic medicines are a wonderful method to augment the body's own defenses so that they can more effectively heal themselves from various ailments (flu).

Because of the similarity between the 1918 flu and the H1N1 flu, it may be helpful to reference homeopathy's impressive successes in treating people during the 1918 flu. The death rates in the homeopathic hospitals in the US were only around 1%, while the death rates in conventional hospitals were closer to 30%. Another important fact from that era is that New York City had the lowest mortality rate during the 1918 flu than any city in the U.S., and this impressive statistic is primarily due to the fact that this city's health commissioner at that time was Royal Copeland, MD, a renowned homeopathic physician, who later became a thrice-elected U.S. Senator. (Franklin D. Roosevelt was his campaign manager during his 1st election as senator). Copeland asserted, "There can be no doubt that the superiority of homeopathy in a purely medical condition is just as great as it was 50 years ago”.

One of today's most popular homeopathic medicines for the flu is the popular Oscillococcinum, a medicine that has been used by homeopaths since the 1920s. There have been 4 controlled studies that have shown

that this medicine is effective in reducing the symptoms of influenza as compared with those people given a placebo.

The effectiveness of another homeopathic remedy, called Grippe-Heel, was compared with that of conventional treatments in a prospective, observational cohort study in 485 patients with mild viral infections and symptoms as fever, headache, muscle pain, cough or sore throat. As evaluated by the practitioners, 67.9% of patients were considered asymptomatic at the end of Grippe-Heel therapy vs. 47.9% of patients in the control group. Practitioners judged homeopathic treatments as 'successful' in 78.1% of cases vs. 52.2% for conventional therapies. Tolerability and compliance were 'very good' given for 88.9% of patients in the homoeopathic group vs. 38.8% in the conventional treatment group.

The above homeopathic medicines are primarily helpful during the first 48 hours of onset of the flu. Other medicines to consider during this time and afterwards: Gels. Bry. Ip. Ars. Eup-per. Rhus-t. and Bapt.

 

[Bruno Seemann, M.D.]

“What do you mean, she's still sick ... I gave her something for her fever?" Mrs. B. was flabber­gasted when she was confronted by the fact that her little daughter's cold was lingering into its 3rd week. She was used to giving Tylenol for even the slightest fever or body ache. "The symptoms keep changing! First it's a runny nose, then a sore throat, and now she's coughing."

Fever, it turns out, is not an illness in an of itself, but a sign that our bodies are attempting to work through an illness. Suppressing fever is like pinching a fire hose shut when the firemen are trying to save your house. A fever, for an adult and for a child, is actually beneficial for our body. It is an opportunity for our immune system to respond to a challenge.

Parents today are much more uncomfortable with fevers than parents 50 years ago. A fearfulness surrounds them because of the risk, albeit extremely low, of a febrile seizure. The medical establishment has generated a pervasive culture of paranoia, by not clearly stating that 1) seizures are extremely rare, 2) the seizure itself is harmless, does not lead to a subsequent permanent seizure disorder, and does not cause brain damage.

Anthroposophical remedies exist which can help support our body during times of acute fever. These do not suppress the fever, but rather help to integrate its functions so that the body can be returned to the healthy balance which we call health.

 

 

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