Practical Hydrotherapy by Geo. Thomason, M. D.

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · May 6, 1902

Practical Hydrotherapy

By Geo. Thomason, M. D.

Lesson 12—Fever

GEO. THOMASON, M. D.

The temperature of the body in health is 98.6°, and it remains practically at this point the year round, regardless of the ordinary external influences, or even of atmospheric conditions. There is, however, a slight variation. The temperature is usually from .5° to 1° lower in the morning than in the evening. A thermometer placed in the mouth registers in health about the temperature given, or a little lower if it be placed in the armpit. The internal temperature, that is, the temperature in the heart, liver, and other internal organs, registers, of course, very much higher than this, being from 103° to 107°. As before stated, the temperature is subject to but very slight variation from external influences. This is true of the so-called warm-blooded animals. The bodily temperature of cold-blooded animals, such as the fish, the frog, etc., changes according to the environment. For instance, the temperature of the fish is only one or two degrees higher than that of the water in which it swims, the temperature of the fish rising and falling as the temperature of the water changes.

It is possible to cause a rise of temperature by vigorous muscular exercise. Severe muscular exercise may make a difference of several degrees. The temperature, however, soon returns to the normal point when free perspiration occurs. Such a rise of temperature is considered physiological.

The temperature is maintained at the normal point through the influence of the nervous system. When there are conditions surrounding the body which would cause a fall in the temperature, the body, through the mechanism of the nervous system, sets in operation processes which tend to conserve the heat of the body by lessening the elimination, and also by increasing the production of heat. Thus, during cold weather, the perspiratory activity is diminished, the skin is more tense and firm, there is less blood circulating in the skin, and the energy within the heat-producing cells of the body is increased.

On the other hand, when conditions are present which would naturally tend to increase the body temperature, such as warm air, excessive clothing, or during exercise, the body is prepared to combat this tendency to temperature rise by increasing the perspiration, the evaporation of which cools the body. There is increased blood circulation through the skin, and the blood coming from the internal parts of the body at a high temperature is cooled as it passes through the skin. The heart also is made to beat more rapidly, which in turn increases the amount of blood in the skin. Thus we see that so long as an equilibrium is maintained between the production of heat and the elimination of heat, or, in other words, so long as the balancing centers are undisturbed, the normal temperature can be maintained.

In disease processes, this equilibrium is disturbed, and fever results. Fever is one of the most constant symptoms of disease processes, especially of acute diseases. Fever, however, must not be looked upon as an unmixed evil. It is protective in its purpose. It is, first of all, one of the means nature takes to put the patient to bed. A man may in the morning feel strong and able to accomplish the usual amount of work, but by evening, if a marked fever develops, he finds himself weak and prostrated, and unable to do otherwise than go to bed. Were it not so, many persons would continue to perform the usual amount of work, using up their store of vital energy, which it is so important to conserve in order to sustain the body

through the trying ordeal of, perhaps, several weeks of sickness.

Another purpose of fever is that the increased intensity of the vital fires may more rapidly consume the products of disease processes taking place in the body. There would otherwise be an accumulation of wastes in the tissues, which would quickly overwhelm the body and destroy life. It is only when the vital fires burn too fiercely that it becomes necessary to moderate them.

Section men working on railroads frequently set fire to the weeds and rubbish which accumulate on the company's property, and the fire makes a clean sweep as it burns; and so long as it is confined to proper limits, it serves a most useful purpose. If, perchance, some sparks fall into a farmer's wheat field or his granary, the fire has gone beyond its proper limit, and damage results. It is necessary to quench the flame. So it is with the vital fires. As long as they keep within bounds, consuming only the wastes of the body, they fulfill a useful purpose; but when burning so fiercely as to cause the bodily temperature to rise to a critical point, endangering the vital processes, it is necessary that their vigor be diminished.

Increased bodily temperature is due either to an increase in the amount of heat produced within the body or to a failure on the part of the body to eliminate heat with sufficient rapidity, or to both. It is important to remember this fact, as it governs, to a considerable extent, the methods which may be properly applied for combating the fever.

To illustrate this point, we might cite the case of a patient attacked with a malarial paroxysm. There is deficient elimination of heat through the skin, which is evident from the pallor of the skin and the marked sensations of chill. While the patient is experiencing these unpleasant sensations, if the internal temperature is taken, fever will be found present. To plunge such a patient in a cold bath to reduce the temperature would be most absurd.

There are other disease conditions besides malaria in which fever is due to deficient heat elimination, as indicated by goose flesh and pallor of the skin, chill, and shivering, and in which vigorous cold baths must be avoided in combating the high temperature. In other cases in which fever is present, due to an excessive production of heat, where the face is flushed, the surface of the body is warm, and there is no tendency to chill, vigorous cold baths may be administered. When the patient is perspiring freely, nature is doing all that is possible to reduce the temperature, and it will certainly fall without further assistance.

It is necessary to understand the principles involved in fever processes, as here outlined, before it is possible to deal intelligently with cases of this sort. Suggestions as to the simplest and best methods of combating high temperature will be presented in our lesson in the next issue.