Being an astronaut is a hazardous job. Not only are they exposed to higher levels of radiation and the fury of Earth's atmosphere upon re-entry, they must also handle a nearly 2° F increase in core body temperature.
fever
Vital signs matter. And they matter most when they're collected correctly and they provide accurate data. Dismiss them, or do them incorrectly, and the erroneous information will likely result in harmful medical decisions made on your behalf.
When a mild fever strikes healthy kids or adults, that small temperature rise is usually followed with a move towards the medicine cabinet. But there's a broad body of research that indicates that so-called over-the-counter remedies are simply unnecessary, because the body is perfectly designed to handle this physiological intrusion.
In today s Probably Obvious entry, a group from McMaster University in Ontario tells you something that you probably already know, but still ignore.
The group, led by David Earn, Ph.D., a professor of infectious disease and mathematics, reports that when you are sick with a fever from a cold or flu and take medications that lower the fever and make you feel better, you will go to work too soon and infect others.