Heating for Health
Proverbs 3:7-8
“Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh, and strength to your bones.”
You’re not feeling well and you have a fever. Is your increased body temperature good for you or should you try to lower it?
Medical researchers are learning what happens in the body when we develop a fever. They say that the body’s fever response is usually a very important part of our body’s defense against disease. Normally the body’s temperature varies through the day. If the body’s temperature drops below 80° or climbs higher than 108° for a prolonged period, death usually results. Your body has a thermostat, called the hypothalamus, to keep its temperature within that range.
When disease germs are detected in your bloodstream, your white blood cells release a chemical called EP. EP quickly makes its way to the hypothalamus, where it raises the setting of your thermostat. This increase in temperature can make your body increase its production of T cells by 20 times or more to fight bacterial infection. It also increases the production of blood chemicals that fight viruses. EP also blocks bacteria’s ability to make use of the free iron in your blood at just the time bacteria are most in need of that iron. Even iguanas and fish are known to raise their body temperature when ill by moving into warmer environments.
Does the fever response just accidentally happen to help fight infection, or was it designed to work the way it does? Clearly we must thank God for this cleverly designed defense against disease.
Prayer: Dear heavenly Father, I thank You for the good health that I enjoy as well as the wonderful ways You have designed the body to protect itself from disease. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
REF.: Kiester, Edwin Jr. 1984. A little fever is good for you. Science 84, Nov. p. 168.
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