Consequences, complications and prognosis of fever

Body temperature of 38-38.5-39-39.5 is a symptom that should not be treated carelessly. It is already important that such a situation is a signal that there are certain disorders in the body, an infection has penetrated and an inflammatory process has begun. If nothing is done, the disease will progress, it will be more difficult to treat, and therefore the likelihood of all sorts of complications will be higher.

If the temperature of 38-38.5 persists for 3-5 days, which indicates the body's active fight against infection, there is nothing terrible about this, there is no need to rush to reduce it, but the temperature reaching critical values (39-39.5 degrees) must be brought down immediately. But if the temperature indicators have not stabilized within 5 days, everything indicates the progression of the disease and it is necessary to take urgent measures to combat the infection, if they have not been taken before.

In viral diseases, the temperature usually decreases during the first 5 days, rarely remains for a week, but in the last days it does not rise above 38 degrees. A longer fever indicates the body's inability to cope with the pathogen or the ineffectiveness of the treatment. The longer this condition lasts, the greater the chance of complications developing in various organs and systems, which are uncomfortable working in such unsuitable conditions. In addition, inflammatory diseases are associated with the risk of intoxication of the body with the decay products of its own tissues and the vital activity of pathogenic microorganisms.

We have figured out the need to treat diseases accompanied by fever. But what about the temperature if it is steadily moving towards critical values? As long as the thermometer does not rise above 38-38.5 degrees, for most adults this state of affairs does not pose a particular danger. But a further increase in temperature leads to destructive consequences, it is not for nothing that we begin to feel muscle weakness and body aches.

Hyperthermia also has a negative effect on the cells of the brain and nervous system, causing symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, fainting, convulsive syndrome (febrile seizures in children), respiratory and cardiac disorders. After all, the central nervous system is the main controlling organ for the entire body and regulates most of the processes in it.

An increase in temperature definitely affects blood clotting. The higher the temperature, the thicker the blood. And it is much harder for the heart to pump thick blood. High energy expenditure on the work of pumping blood weakens the organ, which begins to fail. Hence, strong and frequent heartbeat, arrhythmia, high blood pressure, which not only negatively affect a person's well-being, but are also potentially dangerous conditions that can lead to myocardial infarction, cerebral stroke, cardiac ischemia, heart failure.

Slow blood flow leads to the fact that human organs and systems begin to receive less oxygen and nutrients, it is clear that they will work worse, up to complete failure. With hyperthermia, a person can die not from infection and intoxication by its decay products, but from the failure of organs experiencing oxygen starvation and a deficiency of substances necessary for their functioning.

Increased blood clotting caused by hyperthermia is especially dangerous for people with a tendency to thrombus formation. After all, thrombi not only impede blood flow, but can also break off and, if they enter the heart, cause it to stop.

Temperatures above 38 degrees are potentially dangerous for a small child, because febrile seizures in children under 6 years of age are not uncommon in this context, despite the fact that they are associated with breathing problems and require the help of medical specialists. And parents often do not even know how to react to such a strange condition of a child who is convulsing and does not react to anything.

Why is temperature dangerous during pregnancy and lactation?

During pregnancy, a temperature of 38-39.5 is generally considered unacceptable. In the third trimester of pregnancy, doctors recommend starting to fight high temperatures when they reach 37.5 degrees. There are many reasons for such caution:

• The increase in temperature and the increase in blood viscosity create a greater burden on the woman's heart, given that pregnancy itself implies double the burden on the body. The heart of the expectant mother may simply not withstand such violence.
• High temperatures have a destructive effect on cell membranes; with prolonged fever, protein synthesis is inhibited, which is the building material of the cells of the woman herself and the fetus in her womb.
• High temperatures accordingly have a negative impact on the condition of the placenta, which may also fail to cope with its duties. Against the background of hyperthermia, a pregnant woman may begin premature labor.
• Temperatures above 38 degrees in the expectant mother have a negative impact on the development of the central nervous system and the mental abilities of her unborn child. At the same time, other organs of the fetus may also suffer various developmental disorders.

Any increase in temperature is dangerous during pregnancy, because the choice of means to bring it down is limited during this period (again, so that medications and folk recipes based on herbs cannot harm the fetus or provoke a miscarriage). Therefore, the expectant mother should especially carefully monitor her health and in every possible way prevent infection from entering her body.

An increase in temperature in a nursing mother and the possibility of breastfeeding in such a situation are questions that excite the minds of caring mothers, doctors and scientists. Previously, it was believed that at a temperature above 38 degrees, regardless of the reason, you need to stop breastfeeding, and the milk itself should be expressed and boiled, after which, having cooled it to the desired temperature, it can be given to the child. Today, scientists from different countries do not support this point of view, arguing that the quality of milk does not suffer, which means that the question of whether it is possible to breastfeed at a high body temperature has a positive answer. Another thing is that at a temperature above 39 degrees, the taste and consistency of milk can change, and this is not always attractive to the baby. The child himself can refuse the breast if he does not like the milk.

It is not worth forcibly depriving a child of breast milk, even if the mother has an infectious disease and a temperature of 38-38.5-39-39.5. The fact is that any disease has a certain incubation period, during which pathogens are already in the woman's body and can be transmitted to the child. But mother's milk contains components that increase the baby's resistance to infections. By refusing to breastfeed, a woman deprives her baby of this protection, despite the fact that she may have already transmitted pathogens to the child, without suspecting it, during feeding and close contact.

Refusal to breastfeed is also fraught with lactostasis, against which mastitis can develop - a disease that often causes a temperature of 40 degrees and severe pain in the chest.

The mother's high temperature is unlikely to affect the child, but the woman herself needs to approach this with all responsibility and caution, because she will have to raise a child, and this task requires considerable strength and health.

Diagnostics high temperature

When we were discussing the issue of self-diagnosis of diseases, the body temperature of which can reach 38-38.5-39-39.5 degrees, we came across the fact that different diseases can have similar symptoms. And it is generally impossible to judge the diagnosis based on the increase in temperature alone, because fever or heat is just one of the symptoms of many diseases, caused by the body's response.

A general practitioner should make a diagnosis that allows one to understand what exactly caused the rise in the thermometer column, who, if necessary, will prescribe further examinations, consultations, and treatment. In order to make a diagnosis, he will have to study the patient’s complaints and anamnesis, examine the oral cavity and throat, listen to breathing and heart sounds, and take additional temperature measurements (under the arms or in the rectum, the latter is important for small children). If mastitis is suspected, palpation of the mammary glands is performed.

In the future, the patient will be prescribed blood and urine tests. If there is a cough, a sputum test is prescribed. And if intestinal infections are suspected, a stool test, taking a smear from the anus, and a bacterial culture to determine the causative agent of the disease are mandatory.

Infectious and inflammatory diseases of the genital area require taking smears from the vagina and urethra. If acute joint inflammation is suspected, synovial fluid is examined. And inflammatory diseases of the brain require a lumbar puncture (taking spinal fluid with subsequent study of its composition and determination of the causative agent of the disease). If the doctor suspects an oncological disease, a biopsy with subsequent histological examination of the taken biomaterial is mandatory.

Instrumental diagnostics are also carried out depending on the preliminary diagnosis and may include X-ray of the affected organ (lungs, joints, bones, etc.), ultrasound (often prescribed for diseases of the genitourinary system and brain), computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging, FGDS, colonoscopy, etc.

Since several different diseases with similar symptoms can occur against the background of high temperature, laboratory and instrumental studies provide information for conducting high-quality differential diagnostics, which helps to make the only correct diagnosis by the method of exclusion.

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Prevention

The best prevention of increased body temperature is considered to be a healthy lifestyle, high physical activity, hardening and water treatments (swimming is very effective), the ability to relax and relieve stress, not overexposure to active sun rays, a balanced diet rich in vitamins and minerals. All these measures help reduce the risk of colds and infectious diseases, and also prevent overheating of the body due to the thermal energy of the sun and stress.

They do not protect against temperature increase, because this is a normal reaction of the body during illness. It is just that the less a person gets sick, the less often he will suffer from hyperthermia and its consequences.

What should not be done if a person does get sick and the thermometer starts to rise:

• Ignore the requirement to stay in bed during the acute phase of the disease.
• Letting everything take its course in the hope that the body will cope with the infection on its own and the temperature will drop on its own.
• At the first signs of fever, dress warmly or start wrapping up the child, causing even more overheating.
• Practice any thermal procedures (hot baths or foot baths, warming compresses and rubs, steam inhalations).
• If the patient looks pale, has bluish lips, cold extremities, and white spots remain when pressing on the body, while the thermometer shows 39 degrees or more, and the person is shivering, we are talking about the so-called white fever. In this case, warm drinks, rubbing the extremities, wiping with a hot towel are indicated. But even in this case, thermal procedures will be limited. Wiping the body and rubbing it with a hot towel to improve heat transfer is not prohibited (and then only until the skin takes on a pink tint), but wrapping or wrapping with a hot sheet is strictly prohibited.
• A person with a high temperature does not need to be covered with warm blankets, especially if it is a small child who tends to overheat quickly. After wiping and other procedures aimed at reducing body temperature, the patient can be dressed in light clothing made of natural fabric, and a baby can simply be covered with a cotton diaper if the room temperature does not drop below 18 degrees.
• The recommended drinking during hyperthermia implies drinking drinks at room temperature or slightly above it. Hot drinks are not relevant in this situation. Warm tea or decoction will have a diaphoretic and antipyretic effect, but hot tea will have a warming effect, which will be dangerous against the background of high temperature. But in no case should you abuse alcoholic drinks during hyperthermia, which are not for nothing called hot drinks. Folk treatment with vodka internally or as a rub is possible only for the prevention of colds after freezing, but not for treatment when the temperature has already begun to rise.
• If no folk methods can bring down a high temperature, and taking antipyretic and anti-inflammatory drugs does not give a good effect (the temperature drops slightly and rises again), you cannot rely on your own strength. And even more so if the child is sick, who has a tendency to febrile seizures. In this situation, you must definitely call an ambulance.

It is also recommended to seek medical help if the child is very pale, wheezing and choking (there is evidence of respiratory distress), a strange barking cough has appeared, the baby is unusually lethargic and reacts poorly to people around him.

It is not for nothing that a temperature of 38-38.5-39-39.5 is called pyrogenic fever or severe hyperthermia, because we are talking not so much about a protective reaction as about dangerous failures in the work of the thermoregulatory center. Already at 38 degrees, the activity of most bacteria and viruses decreases, so there is no need to further increase the temperature. If the temperature continues to rise to values u200bu200bdangerous for the body itself, a pathological process of self-destruction is launched. In this case, you need to do everything to stop it and prevent complications no less dangerous than those that can be caused by pathogenic microorganisms and taking synthetic drugs. And here the folk wisdom "our health is in our hands" acquires special meaning and relevance.

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Forecast

A high temperature of 38-38.5-39-39.5 degrees does not occur on its own and is usually an indicator of serious health problems. But this is just one of the symptoms of illness, overheating, negative impact of stress, which cause failures in the central nervous system, hypothalamus and other organs. It is impossible to even make a diagnosis based on this symptom alone, let alone predict the development of a pathological process.

But on the other hand, the absence of temperature (or rather its normal values during illness) may indicate a weak immune system, which cannot provide protection against an infection that has entered the body. After all, an increase in temperature is a normal protective reaction that does not allow bacteria and viruses to actively multiply. So, in the presence of a moderate or even high temperature, the prognosis of the disease can be considered more favorable than in its absence. In this case, the medicine will only help the body fight, and not do all the work for it, which takes more time and is fraught with complications.

The only danger is a temperature above 38 for a child, and above 39-39.5 for an adult, which will be indicated by a noticeable deterioration in health. Trying to survive such a temperature without taking any therapeutic measures is impossible, especially on your feet. An increase in blood viscosity increases the load on the cardiovascular system, so a high temperature can cause heart disease, and intoxication of the body will negatively affect the condition of the kidneys. So is it worth neglecting treatment if there are many ways to bring down the temperature without using synthetic drugs?

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