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Fever Health Article

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KEY TERMS

Antipyretic—A drug that lowers body temperature, such as aspirin or acetaminophen.

Autoimmune disease—A disorder in which the immune system attacks the body's own cells.

Febrile seizure—Convulsions brought on by high body temperature and inflammation of the brain or brain covering.

Hyperthermia—Abnormally high body temperature that occurs when the body's metabolic heat production or environmental heat load exceeds the normal heat loss capacity (or when heat loss is impaired). Heat stroke is an example of hyperthermia.

Hypothalamus—A region in the posterior section of the forebrain that regulates body temperature, sleep cycles, and the activity of the pituitary gland.

Intermittent—A fever pattern marked by the patient's temperature returning to normal at some point during the day.

Macrophage—A type of large white blood cell that helps the body fight off pathogenic microorganisms by ingesting them.

Malignant hyperthermia—A rare inherited condition in which a person develops a very high fever when given general anesthetics or muscle relaxants in preparation for surgery.

Pyrogen—A substance that produces a rise in body temperature. Bacterial toxins are one type of pyrogen.

Relapsing—A fever pattern in which periods of fever alternate with several days of normal temperatures.

Reye's syndrome—A rare disorder that occurs primarily in children recovering from a viral illness and associated with aspirin usage. It is characterized by vomiting, swelling of the brain, and liver dysfunction.

Vasoconstriction—Narrowing of the blood vessels, which serves to conserve body heat and maintain or raise blood pressure.

BOOKS

Gelfand, Jeffrey, et al. "Fever, Including Fever of Unknown Origin." Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, edited by Kurt Isselbacher, et al. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1997.

Haist, Steven A., MD, John B. Robbins, MD, and Leonard G. Gomella, MD. "Fever." Internal Medicine On Call, 2nd ed. Stamford, CT: Appleton & Lange, 1997.

"Respiratory Viral Diseases." Chapter 162 in The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy, edited by Mark H. Beers, MD, and Robert Berkow, MD. Whitehouse Station, NJ: Merck Research Laboratories, 1999.