Is Getting Sick Beneficial?

[Mk]

Why should we get sick

I need help on finding resources on why getting sick is a GOOD thing. I'm sure there has to be some. I'm not meaning this like "so you can get out of school" etc.

- I give thanks, Mk

(This shy :shy: face always puzzles me to what it means until I hover it)

 

[moose]

Well, to grow immunity towards certain illnesses. If you search the biology forums, you might find something there...

 

[honestrosewater]

I imagine the US government et al have some good information online about immunization. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/immunization.html looks like a good place to start. And google, of course.

Um, or were you thinking of getting 'sicker' than this?

 

[Mk]

Arggh! When I post, others seem to figure I'm planning on doing something, usually for me its because I'm a fat cat that learns from curiosity.

Well, to grow immunity towards certain illnesses.

That's not what I meant either, that's like doing it ahead of time so you don't have to do it later...

 

[honestrosewater]

Other good things about getting sick? You know what getting sick means, right?
Well, 'a friend in need is a friend indeed'. I suppose it could help you learn more about your relationships - finding out who sticks around and helps care for you. ? I suppose it also helps bring out the kindness in people.

 

[Moonbear]

There aren't really any good reasons for getting sick, unless you're talking about the things that make you feel sick, like fever, which is part of the immune response that tries to kill off the infection by making you too hot for the germ to survive.

With chicken pox, it used to be recommended, before there was a vaccine available, that if it's going around, don't try to keep your kids from getting infected. Once you have it, you build immunity to the virus, and only a very rare few will catch it a second time. It's much more harmful to get infected with it as an adult than as a child, so that's why it was recommended to just let the kids catch it so they wouldn't catch it as an adult.

 

[Zygotic Embryo]

Yikes, who gave that>?

subbert?