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Posted on Dec 30, 2005, 8 p.m.
By Bill Freeman
GENERAL DESCRIPTION: "Take two aspirin and call me in the morning." More often than not, those two aspirin are prescribed to lower a fever associated with infection or inflammation. Some medical experts believe, however, that the body
GENERAL DESCRIPTION:
"Take two aspirin and call me in the morning." More often than not, those two aspirin are prescribed to lower a fever associated with infection or inflammation. Some medical experts believe, however, that the body’s fever mechanism has evolved over millions of years as an adaptive response to infection and as such is one of the body’s most powerful defenses against disease.
In fact, the use of heat for healing &emdash; where a body temperature above 98.68F is deliberately induced, a process knows as hyperthermia - is clearly documented in human history. Over 5000 years ago, Egyptians immersed people in hot oil, and the use of hot springs was first documented in the Book of Genesis in the Bible. Today, hyperthermia is gaining in popularity as a therapeutic approach. In the hyperthermia procedure, the body is exposed to temperatures up to 106F. When heat is applied, the blood vessels in normal tissues open up (dilate), dissipating the heat and cooling down the cell environment. There are three basic types of hyperthermia. Heating just a small portion of the body is called local hyperthermia and is sometimes used to treat upper respiratory infections or wounds. Regional hyperthermia refers to heating a larger area such as an arm or a leg. Whole-body hyperthermia is used as a cancer treatment. The heat selectively kills heat-sensitive malignancies
ROLE FOR ANTI-AGING:
When heat is applied to a tumor, vital nutrients and oxygen are cut off causing the tumor’s vascular system to collapse. Elevated temperature appears to shrink, speed up the secretion of antibacterial chemicals, enhance the activity of interferon (the body’s first-line defense against viruses), and boost T-cell proliferation. Hyperthermia can also help release toxins from fat cells, which makes it a useful detoxification tool as well as an infection fighter Hyperthermia has been shown to lower disease and death rates in animals with bacterial and viral infections. Consequently, researchers are taking a close look at hyperthermia as a treatment for HIV/AIDS. The therapy is not without controversy, however. Some researchers have successfully treated infection by raising the body temperature of patients as high as 1068F (with 100% humidity) for 10 hours; in other studies, however, some patients have experienced severe side effects and even death. Research carried out in 2000 found that people who used anti-pyretic (anti-fever) drugs, such as acetaminophen, to treat the symptoms of cold and flu, took longer to recover from the infection than people who did not use fever-reducing drugs. Thus, the results of this study support the theory that reducing fever impedes the immune system in fighting infection.
SIDE EFFECTS/CONTRAINDICATIONS:
People who have anemia, heart disease, diabetes, seizure disorders, or tuberculosis should be extremely careful when using hyperthermia therapy, as should pregnant women. The very old and the very young, who may have trouble regulating body temperature, should avoid hyperthermia unless under a physician’s close supervision.
