"And He feeds me and quenches my thirst and when I fall sick then He (Allah) cures me" [Soorah Shu'araa: 80]


11.6.09

Fever : A Blessing in Disguise


Fever wipes out ones sins and rids his body from dead substances and germs. It is a blessing in disguise.

The Prophet said: “When a believer gets sick or feverish, it is like metal when put on fire, the bad is gone and the good remains.”
[Al-Bayhaqi]

He also describes the intensity of fever by saying: “Fever is coal from hell, get rid of it by using cold water.” [Ibn Maajah]

The Prophet forbade the cursing of fever by saying: “Do not curse a fever because it abolishes sins like fire abolishes dirt from iron.” [Ibn Maajah]

A bacterial or viral infection usually raises the temperature of a person, antibiotics are useless with viral infections, such as the influenza and the common cold, although the patient might sweat and have a very high fever.

Then what is the cure ?

The Prophet tells us to reduce the fever with water. The same is still applied today. Putting cold pads on a patients forehead is still used in a lot of hospitals and by doctors even though fever reducing medicines are abundant, like aspirin, paracetamol (or acetaminophen, which is the active ingredient in Tylenol) and others.

Using water to reduce fevers is not limited to using cold pads. Drinking a lot of fluids is also helpful. This is also understood from the wordings of the Prophetic narration: “cool it with water.” Water is either what the patient drinks, what is given intravenously or what the patient puts on his face or body to cool the fever.

We have seen a lot of patients where fever reducing medicines (antipyretics) were not effective with their rising fever. At the same time, cold water had an immediate effect. Thats why pediatricians advise parents to take a childs clothes off and give a lot of fluids if a fever occurs. An antipyretic might also be give like paracetamol. Aspirin has been banned for children under 12 years of age.

What is fever ?

Fever occurs when the body temperature rises above normal (37 C). There is an area in the brain (an area that lies over the pituitary gland in the front of the head) which is a temperature regulator.

When a germ enters the body, it starts secreting toxins. Toxins affect the temperature regulator causing its temperature to rise. The substances that cause this rise in temperature are called pyrogens. Pyrogens are caused not only by germs but also by the ruined tissues in the body after being affected with germs.

When the temperature rises in the temperature regulator, the rest of the body has to comply. It increases its temperature in response. Soon, the whole body feels feverish and the patients temperature rises. This explains the saying of the Prophet when he described the believers in their kindness and affections like the body. If a part of it suffers from a germ or a virus, like inflammation in the respiratory pathways or inflammation of the urinary tracts and others, all of the body suffers from fever and restlessness.

Yes the whole body suffers. The whole body has a rise in temperature and not only where it is affected. When the inflammation worsens, the germs increase and consequently ruin the tissues. The germs and the pyrogens will find the body’s defense system ready to attack and eat the by-products of the germs and rid the body of them. While doing this, it releases to the body fluids a substance called leukocyte pyrogens or endogenous. Therefore the fever remains while the body is cleansing itself from the by-products.

Didnt the Prophet say, when a man cursed the fever: “Dont curse it because it abolishes sins like fire abolishes dirt from iron.”

It is a cleansing of our sins, a cleansing of dead substances such as dead tissue and the by-products of the germs, like fire cleans the dirt from iron.

The Prophet, sallallahu alayhe wa sallam, said: “For every ailment, there is a cure. If the cure reaches the ailment, it is cured by the will of Allaah.” [Muslim]

That explains the known phenomena that aspirin does not reduce the temperature of a normal person who is not feverish. That is because he does not have these endogenous in his body to work on the hypothalamus.

How do chills occur and why ?

The temperature level in the temperature regulator rises suddenly form its normal level to a higher level, due to damage in the tissues, due to the release of temperature generating substances or due to dehydration. When this happens, the body temperature rises within a few hours to attain the new temperature.

During this period, the patient shivers and feels cold, even though the body temperature is high, because blood vessels in the skin contract. The chills remain until the body temperature reaches the new level set by the temperature regulator.

When the body temperature reaches that level, the chills stop and the patient feels neither warm nor cold. As long as the infection continues and the reason for the rise in temperature continues, the body temperature remains at this new level until Allaah permits recovery.


http://www.islamweb .net/ver2/ archive/article. php?lang= E&id=136101

3 comments:

yaya|azura said...

Alahamdulillah saya dah sembuh dari demam cuma suara tengah rockk! :p

Soulier MUCHiER said...

SubhanAllah...mok sgt suka entry ini Dr Pakcik lama Mok mencari alhamdullillah terimakasih Dr Pakcik...

pakcik said...

cik yaya...lbhkan minum ayer yer..dahtu amik vitamin C 1gm 3x sari.

mok-my pleasure :)

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