Fever is a condition in which the temperature of the body is more than its normal 98.6° F. The term is also used as part of the name of certain diseases, such as typhoid fever and scarlet fever, in which a prominent symptom is a high temperature. Fever is not a disease, but a symptom of many different disorders, especially diseases caused by infections. Although people have survived temperatures of more than 110° F., a fever of 106° F. may have serious effects, particularly in babies or elderly people.
The course of fever varies in different diseases. The first signs of fever are often chilly sensations, frequently associated with flushed or warm feelings. The temperature may rise slowly or rapidly, and it may stay up or may fluctuate. As it rises, it may be associated with shaking chills. If it falls quickly, profuse sweating may occur.
Causes of Fever
As its cells burn foodstuffs for energy, the body constantly produces heat. At the same time the body constantly loses heat to its surroundings through the skin, through breathing, and in other ways. The temperature of the body is a measure of the balance between heat produced and heat lost.
Under normal circumstances the heat produced is balanced by the heat lost, keeping the body temperature at the best level for the cells to carry out their chemical activities. The temperature is controlled by the hypothalamus, a small area of the brain that functions as a thermostat. When the functioning of the hypothalamus is disturbed, fever may result. Such disturbances are sometimes caused by a disease of the brain. In other cases the cause of fever is not clear. However, it is believed that in an infectious disease the bacteria release chemical substances that upset the hypothalamus, causing the body temperature to rise. While the temperature is rising, the blood vessels supplying the skin may be constricted, and sweating may not occur. The body will thus produce more heat than it can lose, and fever will result.
What Fever Does
Fever appears to be one of the body's defenses against infectious disease. In some infectious diseases the high temperature of fever may kill or adversely affect many of the bacteria that cause infection. A rise in temperature may also increase the rate at which the body's cells produce substances to fight infection.
Although fever is basically a protective mechanism, it often weakens a person or makes him feel tÃred and dry. During a fever the body loses large amounts of salts and water through sweating. The body also uses foodstuffs at a faster rate than it normally does. At the same time a feverish person does not usually feel like eating very much or having very much to drink.
Treatment of fever
Fever is generally treated by treating the disorders that cause it. Giying aspirin or applying cool compresses or alcohol sponges may help lower the temperature. To replace the fluids lost from the body by sweating, patients are usually given large quantities of liquids to drink. If the fever is very high, such as the fever that occurs with heatstroke, ice may be rubbed on the body, or the patient may be placed in a tub of cold water.
