Does use of NSAIDs prolong recovery time from febrile illness?

Question

My understanding's that fever's an immune system response to pathogens. Would suppression of this response delay time to recovery?

Answer 1

The reason that elevation in temperature is treated is to prevent the denaturing or "unraveling" of body proteins including enzymes which are necessary for life sustaining processes. If temperature becomes very high, lots of body processes which depend on enzymes and other proteins become impaired, so that you end up with a lot more problems in addition to the original infection. Temperature elevation is only one of the body's mechanisms for fighting infection. When the immune system is activated, a shift in body resources occurs to heal/repair the body. Things that support the body's ability to heal/repair include rest, good nutrition, good hydration, reduction of stress, in other words, "supportive care."