 | Pain Constant Low Grade Fever
  Yet another by-product of inflammation is pain constant low grade fever, which appears occasionally in adults as a symptom of a common cold, but relatively often in young children. Technically, fever is defined as an elevation of body temperature above the individual‘s norm, but the facts of fever are far more complex than this simple definition. Though the function of a fever is still obscure and under investigation, the processes that produce it are now clearly understood.
Developing and maintaining body heat, whether within normal ranges or during fever, is an astonishingly complex affair. The heat comes from metabolism, the chemical conversion of food into energy by the body acting as an engine. Some heat needs to be retained to keep the body warm; some be dissipated to prevent overheating.
Temperature regulation requires the body to balance the heat-producing activities of metabolism with those activities that dissipate heat—both the exhalation of heated air through the action of the lungs, and the circulation and cooling of heated blood just beneath the surface of the skin. This balancing act is controlled in a tiny part of the brain called the hypothalamus, which operates certain on-off switches much as an ordinary thermostat in the house does.
When the body is attacked by viruses and counters with the first phases of the immune responses, one of the chemical mediators generated is a fever-producing substance called endogenous pyrogen. Released into the bloodstream and carried to the brain, endogenous pyrogen increases the concentration of chemicals called prostaglandins in the hypothalamus. These substances somehow reset the body thermostat, altering the heat-generating and -dissipating relationship to achieve a new and higher norm; the body’s metabolism generally accelerates, more food nutrients than usual are used up, and the heart beats faster. At the same time, the blood vessels near the surface of the skin constrict, decreasing circulation and heat loss there, and driving more of the heated blood to the internal parts of the body.
The body often feels chilled during bouts of fever because the brain is calling for a higher temperature than the body has yet reached. The degree of chill experienced is a rough measure of the differential between the higher setting of the brain and the body’s lower temperature. Often coincident with chills is shivering. A rhythmic, involuntary muscle contraction, it is the body’s attempt to generate heat through motion in order to counteract chills. This will lead to pain constant low grade fever, which much be addressed. | Most Popular Common Cold And Flu ArticlesHow Does The Common Cold Affect Your Body Palpitations And Need To Cough Cough With Frothy White Sputum Types Of Rheumatic Heart Fever Pain Constant Low Grade Fever Nutritional Requirements Needed To Treat Fever Flu Symptoms With Neck And Back Pain And Muscle Aches Who Discovered Influenza Is Canada Ready For A Pandemic Influenza | |
| The chill phase of a fever is typically followed by a change-over to hot skin and a new series of discomforts. Breathing speeds up, partly to dissipate the increased heat, partly to supply the additional oxygen required by the accelerated chemical processes of metabolism. The sufferer has a dry throat and intense thirst, caused partly by faster breathing, partly by increased evaporation of moisture from overheated skin and partly by damage to the mucous membrane lining the throat.
The feverish state ends when the body stops producing endogenous pyrogen and the brain thermostat resets itself downward to normal body temperature. An occasional sign of a rapidly breaking fever is profuse sweating, but the return to normal is more likely to be a gradual, unspectacular affair.
Fever is widely believed to be a dangerous condition that must be overcome for the health of the patient. This idea is fairly recent. Until the end of the 19th Century, physicians considered moderate fever beneficial, a natural response to infection that counteracted the disease. Then opinion suddenly reversed a change that coincided with the discovery of drugs capable of reducing fever. Now the pendulum of medical opinion seems to be swinging back, for recent research indicates that the ancient view of fever as beneficial may be correct after all. Most of these studies have been done on animals and on isolated tissue in laboratories, and the findings and conclusions have sometimes conflicted with one another.
In experiments on rabbits, investigators found that those that developed fevers as a reaction to a bacterial infection were more likely to survive than those that did not have fevers. And in another study, piglets were better able to fight a gastrointestinal virus when their temperatures were artificially raised above normal. Some researchers speculate that fever improves the body’s defenses by promoting the activity of germ fighting cells and by improving the effectiveness of interferon.
High fever can be hazardous for many, however, it may dangerously increase heart rates in the elderly or in sufferers from heart and blood-vessel diseases; it can provoke convulsions in young children; it can slow the ability to concentrate; in certain people it can bring on delirium; and in victims of herpes infection a fever may trigger the recurrence of pain constant low grade fever blisters.
Of course, fever is an important indicator of infection. In the case of the common cold, a high fever may signal a more serious illness that warrants a doctor’s attention. Whenever fever accompanies a cold, body temperature should be monitored regularly (left) at least three times a day in children and in adults who fall into high-risk categories. A written record of the readings can reveal a pattern that helps the doctor diagnose complications in pain constant low grade fever. | Twitter About The Common Cold Cure  | | Common Cold Tip Of The Day |
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