 |
print the page |  |
email the page |  |
|
- What is fever?
- Symptoms of fever
- Causes of fever
- Prevention of fever
- Risk factors for fever
- Complications of fever
- When to see a doctor about fever
- Diagnosis of fever
- Conventional treatment of fever
- Alternative/complementary treatment of fever
- Living with fever
- Caring for someone with fever
Fever is usually cause by the body in response to a viral or bacterial infection of some type. When bacteria or viruses invade the body and cause infection, they are able to do so because the body provides the perfect environment for them to multiply and infect. The body's core temperature of 37°C (or 98.6°F) is the optimal environment for viruses or bacteria to live and breed, but they cannot survive long in temperatures a lot higher or a lot lower than this.
In response to a viral or bacterial infection, the hypothalamus (the body's thermostat) increases the body temperature rapidly and drops it just as rapidly (which is why the symptoms of feeling hot then shivering cold are common symptoms of fever). The rapid changes in body temperature kills off many of the viruses or bacteria and prevents them from continuing to multiple. By rapidly increasing and decreasing the body temperature, the hypothalamus is trying to bring the body back to a healthy state.
Advertisement
Fever can also be caused by the following:
- Chronic illness - these conditions can normally cause a recurrence of a low grade fever. The chronic conditions most likely to cause some fever are: rheumatoid arthritis, hay fever, bronchitis, sinusitis
- Heat stroke - can cause the body to heat up, but without any sweating usually, so that it feels like a fever
- HIV infection - one of the first sign of infection by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a low grade fever
- Leukaemia - the condition leukemia usually cause some type of recurrent fever
- Malignancies - some malignant tumours can cause fever to occur
- Tropical diseases - certain tropical diseases such as typhoid fever, can cause a fever, which can then recur over time
Advertisement
Sections: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
< 2: symptoms 4: prevention >
