Greg Fetty, age 11, of St. Albans, West Virginia, for his question:
What causes the body temperature to rise during sickness?
Assorted fevers have pestered mankind throughout the ages, and they have long been the subject of scientific study. Yet, even a few years ago we had no scientific understanding of how the body produces fever, and the reasons why are still not com¬pletely understood.
When the body is attacked by the germs of yellow fever or scarlet fever, its everyday temperature rises several uncomfortable degrees above normal. It also runs high fevers when attacked by measles and a whole lot of other infections. A bad case of sunstroke can bring on a high fever. When body temperature rises eight degrees above normal, certain nerve tissues that control muscle movement may be permanently destroyed, and temperatures higher than this may be fatal. These facts explain why medical re¬searchers are so eager to solve all the secrets involved in the general problem of fevers.
Recently a team of researchers demonstrated what actually happens inside the body to cause an abnormal rise in temperature. Like true scientists, they attacked the problem from at least two sides. They considered the body as a whole and also certain microscopic cells that spring into action during a fever. The body as a whole has a number of automatic mechanisms that keep such vital operations as heart beat and oxygen supply adjusted to balanced levels. The complex system that keep the body temperature at around the normal 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit is another such mechanism. The tendency of the body to maintain itself on an even keel by means of these self¬-operating devices is called "homeostasis," from words meaning staying the same.
The homeostatic temperature control is triggered by two thermostats in the hypo¬thalamus section of the brain. The body constantly produces heat by consuming fuel, and the thermostatic orders are issued to the skin to get rid of the surplus. When the air around becomes too cold for comfort, reverse orders are issued to hold in the body's heat. During a fever, this comfortable system appears to blunder. The patient's skin becomes flushed, hot and dry and a thermometer records a rise in the body's entire internal as well as external temperature.
The midgets involved in feverish attacks are white cells called phagocytes float¬ing among swarms of red cells in the blood stream. These little half moons attack and engulf invading germs. Then they give off a special chemical that mingles with the lymph and liquid blood. When it reaches the brain, this chemical triggers the thermo¬stats to signal for heat and still more heat. And for reasons unknown, the skin does not release the surplus as usual. The homeostatic thermostatic system appears to rage out of control, and this causes a fever. Perhaps the abnormal heat helps against the sickness, but at present we cannot say whether or not the body has sensible reasons for allowing a fever to happen.
A fever of course is merely a symptom of a basic attack against the body's health. But doctors regard it as an important threat to be brought under control. They pres¬cribe dependable drugs such as aspirin and in severe cases they may order cold baths to bring the temperature down to normal.