usefulness of fever // was: Re: Raised body temperature - Why?

[Guest guest]

>

> How do you induce a false fever? 

There are several ways to do it. If it interests you, I would

recommend the book " The Herbs of Life " by Tierra. Most

of the book is not about inducing sweathing/heat, but there's

one chapter with simple directions for MANY home care procedures.

Just that chapter is worth buying the book for IMO.

The way I do it is to take a VERY hot bath with " hot " herbs

added to the water. (I add some cayenne pepper, mustard powder,

and ginger powder.) Stay in longer than comfortable, then

rinse off quickly, dry quickly and get under lots of covers.

Don't get out of bed again. This will keep you very hot for

a few hours.

This is pretty much the " Dr. Schulze " version of how to induce

false fever. (He also has you drink a bunch of hot tea

while in the tub.) Oh, I also sometimes drink teas that are

traditional for inducing sweating. (You're going to make me

say here I'm sure. Hang on, I'll go get it out of the

cupboard. (Yarrow, elder flower and peppermint. These are

traditional for illness. I don't recall which are for sweating --

I think the peppermint may be more just for flavor.)

Pleease note that this procedure can be both uncomfortable and

fairly bizarre. I would absolutely recommend taking this SLOWLY

if you want to try it, so that you know what it feels like with

A LITTLE BIT of herbs.

And, OF COURSE I would recommend that you do this YOURSELF

until you are quite comfortable with the process BEFORE EVER

DOING IT WITH A CHILD. IMO this holds for any kind of body

care -- unless there's some critical or emergency situation

or unless you can't use the procedure yourself for some reason.

good wishes,

Moria

>

>> Hi Bikram, I don't know the answers to what you asked, but thought

> you might want to also know that fever is useful. For example, in

> the case of infection, fever allows the immune system to work

better.

> White blood cells move faster (and faster) as the body temperature

> gets higher. For this reason, many people (including me) believe

> it is counter-productive to try to reduce fever.

>

> In fact, I personally INDUCE " false fever " in myself when I'm sick,

> to help myself get better!

>

> There's a limit to this, of course -- at very high heat there can

> be serious damage -- so fever is only positive (helpful) up to a

> point.