I’ve only slightly (hopefully) gotten sick here and realized during the process that many people around me take pills for a minor onset of fever, considering it normal.
I’m sharing my understanding of the process, which should be very close to scientific. When an infection penetrates the body, foreign bacteria or viruses enter the bloodstream, which the immune system attacks. During the attack, signaling molecules are produced, the purpose of which is to declare a general alert throughout the body. Specifically, cytokines are produced, which also inform the brain (hypothalamus) that action is needed. Pyrogens (fever-inducing agents) include cytokines and external pathogens. The hypothalamus activates a fever through the synthesis of prostaglandins. Why: at a temperature of 38.5°C, the immune system becomes more active, antibodies are produced in larger amounts, microbial reproduction slows down, and some viruses do not reproduce.
If you consume, for example, Ibuprofen, it blocks the enzyme (COX) that creates these prostaglandins. Meaning, the pyrogens are still in the blood, but the brain “can’t hear” them and doesn’t raise the temperature.
There are only two cases when you should reduce fever: if you truly feel awful, have a severe headache, vomiting, etc. Unnecessary stress does not help the body. And if the temperature exceeds 39°C. At that point, the harm from high temperature outweighs the benefits. Even then, there are so many “buts” that a doctor should make the decision. For example, if the heart is problematic, these are special cases.
Oh, here’s something else interesting. Why when the temperature is high you feel “cold” and want to cover up. In the hypothalamus itself, there’s something like a thermostat, normally set to 36.6°C. When pyrogens arrive, it raises the temperature through prostaglandins, but since it’s the brain, it immediately cranks up its own “normal temperature” in its thermostat to, say, 38.5°C. As a result, a body temperature of 37°C suddenly feels low, and it feels like “it’s cold around, need to cover up.” Covering up is passive thermal insulation, and generally, it helps to more quickly raise the temperature to the target level. Later, when the temperature reaches 38.5°C, the chills may disappear (unless the hypothalamus further raises its thermostat). And when the temperature plateaus, around 38.5°C, covering up is harmful.
When the temperature starts to drop back, the internal thermostat switches to 36.6°C, and to cool down faster, the body produces sweat. So, if you’re sweating, it’s a sign of recovery.
(Well, what else is there to do at four in the morning, when because of all this, I can’t sleep)
Hi, I'm Rauf Aliev. 