Is there a high fever without cause in adults and when should it be combated?

Probably, every adult at least once in his life complained that he had a fever without a reason. But you need to understand that without a reason, such a symptom can not appear, and the absence of other manifestations of the disease is not always an indicator of absolute health. Listening to your body, you can more closely understand that without a reason, no symptom appears in it, but we do not always know how to correctly decipher the signals we are giving.

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Causes of the high fever without cause in adults

What is the highest temperature?

Many of us know from the childhood that normal body temperature is considered to be 36.6 degrees, so we tend to start panicking when the thermometer's column suddenly turns out to be slightly higher than this mark. Saying "I have a temperature" we suspect its increase beyond the norm, which means that it can be 36.7 or 36.9.

Doctors say that an increase in temperature during the day to 37 degrees can be considered a variant of the norm, especially if a person leads an active lifestyle. High physical activity in hot weather can easily cause a rise in temperature and to higher levels. True, such a temperature is a transient phenomenon, the body's regulatory functions quickly bring it back to normal when a person rests.

The risk of overheating in everyday life can be a stressful situation, a strong excitement, after which a person can literally be feverish. But as soon as the nervous system calms down, the suddenly rising temperature decreases.

In women of reproductive age, temperature fluctuations of up to 37-37.2 also should not cause particular concern, since they are most often associated with hormonal changes during the menstrual cycle. The same complaints can be heard from those who were overtaken by the early menopause. They are tormented not only by hot flashes (heat in the upper half of the body), but also by real jumps in the temperature characteristics of the entire body.

As for the stronger sex, then they "overheat" is usually associated with heavy physical labor and overwork on this soil. And in adolescence, boys can have such a syndrome, which is called the temperature of growth. In this case, the increase in body temperature is associated with a large release of energy, which in no way affects the well-being of the young man and is not accompanied by other unusual symptoms.

Heat for no reason can be the result of banal overheating in the sun, prolonged exposure to heat or in a stuffy room. Overestimated body temperature can be observed for a while after visiting the bath or solarium.

Another factor that can cause temporary hyperthermia is the intake of medications. These can be antibiotics (tetracycline, penicillin and cephalosporin series) or anesthetics, barbiturates and diuretics, drugs for the treatment of neuropsychic disorders, antihistamines and cardiovascular drugs. The same "Ibuprofen" (one of the most popular budget non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), designed to reduce fever slightly, can also cause an increase in body temperature after some time after taking.

Usually a violation of the thermoregulation mechanism against medication is observed on the 4th-5th day. The increase in temperature in this case depends on the reaction of the body to the drug and its effect.

It turns out that body temperature above 37 degrees does not always need to be considered as evidence of illness, because temperature fluctuations during the day can reach about 2 degrees, i.e. It can fall 1 degree below normal or rise to 37.4-37.5. And even with certain diseases, fever is not considered a dangerous symptom. For example, temperature fluctuations in vegetovascular dystonia (and the prevalence of this pathology is extremely high) is a common situation. And although too high rates are not observed, the temperature rises regularly.

Now with regard to temperature measurement, which can be carried out not only in the armpit. All that was written above, is typical for the temperature under the armpits, where it is most often measured in adults. But for the oral cavity the normal temperature is not 36.6, but 37 degrees, and the rectal measurement of the temperature indicators will give results even 0.5 degrees more. So that temperature, which is considered high for the axilla, will be normal for the anal opening. These moments must also be taken into account before raising panic.

As we see, in spite of the fact that we are accustomed to associate a fever with colds, in fact, a rise in body temperature can provoke many different factors that do not at all speak of a beginning illness. Nevertheless, this is not an excuse to relax. A single short-term "overheating" is unlikely to indicate anything serious. Usually for the next day the symptom either disappears without a trace, or additional manifestations of the disease appear. If the high temperature (above 37.2 degrees) for no reason lasts more than two days, this is already an occasion to seek medical advice.

Temperature as evidence of hidden diseases

Those situations about which we wrote above are temporary phenomena and very rarely can cause a prolonged temperature rise. Rather, it is about fluctuating temperature performance, rather than a persistent increase in temperature. But there are other reasons for the fever. They in the full sense of the word can be called pathological, because their name is nothing else than a medical diagnosis.

Let's start with the fact that against a background of rising temperatures, colds usually occur. They do not always start with a cold and a sore throat. SARS, influenza, and tonsillitis can cause a sharp rise in temperature to 40 and above degrees already in the first days of the disease, when no other symptoms are observed. A person can only feel brokenness in the body and some weakness, which, among other things, can be caused by overwork, which makes it difficult to diagnose. That the patient is sick, the patient may suspect only on day 2-3, when other symptoms of a cold appear.

Alas, respiratory diseases are just the most common, but by no means the only cause of fever. Such a symptom can accompany many acute infectious diseases. Increasing the temperature to 37.5 degrees and above without symptoms in an adult is evidence that the body began to fight infection, the immune system was actively involved in the work.

Increased temperature can cause any bacterial infection, and especially one that is accompanied by the formation of purulent foci. If it is an intestinal infection, then along with a rise in temperature, nausea and vomiting, abdominal pain, liquid stools appear immediately. Infections of the genital tract in the overwhelming majority of cases are always accompanied by unusual secretions from the genitals, foci of skin rashes, which the person before did not pay attention. And then many patients do not compare the above symptoms, believing that they are caused by various diseases.

If other symptoms are absent with a rise in temperature for several days, and the temperature is kept within 38-40 degrees, it is unlikely that it will be about overwork, overheating in the sun or cold. Such a rise in temperature is caused by the toxic effect on the body of the products of the vital activity of bacteria, rather than by the increased work of the immune system, and indicates rather that it does not cope with the infection.

What infectious diseases can be suspected if there is a high fever without cause in adults:

• Most inflammatory diseases of different locations, caused by a bacterial infection, which for the time being can flow in a latent form:
  • inflammation of the inner layer of the heart (endocarditis),
  • inflammation of the kidneys (pyelonephritis),
  • inflammation of the lungs (pneumonia),
  • inflammation of the prostate in men (prostatitis),
  • inflammation of the ovaries in women
  • inflammation of the membranes of the brain (meningitis), etc.
• Infection of the blood (sepsis).
• Infectious diseases (angina, tuberculosis, typhoid and many others).
• Infections transmitted from animals:
  • brucellosis (not so popular disease, the danger of infection which exists when caring for livestock or working on farm livestock farms),
  • toxoplasmosis (and this pathology can be infected in everyday life when dealing with domestic animals, in particular cats, and eating insufficiently roasted meat). The temperature at the same time will be stable: in chronic course it will be within 37-3.2 degrees, with acute - it can be quite high, unaffected by the usual antipyretic agents.
• Viral, fungal and parasitic diseases, which include ARVI, influenza, infectious mononucleosis, hepatitis, candidiasis of any location, malaria, etc.
• Autoimmune and other systemic inflammatory diseases (rheumatism, vasculitis, scleroderma, lupus erythematosus, Crohn's disease, etc.).
• Disorders of the endocrine system, and in particular hyperteriosis, goiter, porphyria (temperature increase in endocrine pathologies is not always observed).
• Inflammatory-degenerative diseases of bones and joints (osteomyelitis, arthrosis, rheumatoid arthritis, etc.)
• Various oncological pathologies: malignant novoobrazovaniya in the liver, kidneys, stomach, pancreas, colon cancer, lymphoma, lymphosarcoma, etc. (in most cases, high temperature is the only manifestation of cancer in the initial stage).
• Diseases of the blood (fever can be observed with leukemia, but it will be irregular). The temperature within the subfebrile values can be kept at a low level of hemoglobin (iron-deficiency anemia).
• Injuries (possibly both local and general increase in body temperature if inflammation occurs at the site of the injury).
• Allergic diseases (the only way to permanently stabilize body temperature is to detect and remove the allergen), including reactions to vaccination.
• Infarcts (temperature increase is diagnosed infrequently).
• Vascular pathologies, including thrombophlebitis and vein thrombosis (in this case, fever and chills may occur).
• Some mental disorders, accompanied by increased excitability of the nervous system.
• Alcohol intoxication (without other symptoms, the temperature can be kept within 38 degrees).
• Parasitic diseases caused by infection with helminths (characterized by a long subfebrile temperature of 37-37, degrees).
• HIV infection (prolonged temperature increase to subfebrile values against the background of exposure to infectious diseases may be the first sign of immunodeficiency), etc.

All the above pathologies can be accompanied by a sudden increase in temperature, which can last for several days. Thus, in the absence of other symptoms, high temperature without a cause can be considered the first sign of an existing disease in the body (chronic or acute, proceeding in a latent form).

Temperature without symptoms in the child

As we have already said, the children's organism differs from the adult in that many of its systems are still in the stage of formation. Therefore, different processes in the child's body (both physiological and pathological) can proceed differently.

The immature mechanism of thermoregulation causes the child's body to overheat much more often than the adult. Fearing, as if the child is not ill, moms begin to tightly wrap up babies even when enough to cover the baby with a light diaper. Due to overheating (unregulated heat transfer) the child's body turns red, the baby begins to be capricious, the temperature rises. Parents, in turn, become nervous, because they are associated with a possible cold (from which the child was trying to protect) or another illness, and because of the absence of symptoms they are only lost in conjecture. Now, against the background of experience, it's no wonder that my mother can jump up the temperature.

Unformed immune system of the child leads to the fact that children more often suffer from infectious diseases. Subsequently, they will develop immunity to certain types of pathogens, but for the time being, children's diseases can be added to the list of common infectious-inflammatory pathologies.

Due to the weakness of the regulatory functions of the hypothalamus, the temperature of the baby can jump to critical values (39 degrees or higher), especially if the organism first encounters an infection. In this case, the child can feel quite normal. If an adult at a temperature of 38-39 degrees just falls down, experiencing a terrible shatter, then a child with the same thermometer will actively play and have fun, as if nothing had happened. And this confuses parents, because they can not understand the cause of hyperthermia in a baby, whose behavior does not speak of a morbid state.

When a fever without a reason occurs in an adult, it is a mystery to which everyone treats in their own way, most often taking a wait-and-see attitude (and suddenly there will be other symptoms and will prompt why the heat). But the increase in temperature in a child immediately causes panic or, at best, a noticeable anxiety among parents, although the baby himself can not show it. It's unlikely that a caring parent will want to sit and wait for what will happen next, and hope that everything goes by itself (although there are also such moms and dads).

But to navigate in a situation, you need to have a clue what causes the temperature rise in a child can be caused, regardless of whether there are other symptoms of the disease. It is necessary to understand that if it is a question of children up to 2 years, then it is simply stupid to expect complaints from them. Kids of this age can not express their feelings and feelings with words, can not complain. At best, parents will have to face with tears and whims, which can be interpreted in different ways. Breasts, for example, can be capricious even when they just want to sleep, and this has nothing to do with the illness. But in the same way a child can show that his throat or tummy is hurting, and parents can not immediately understand that motion sicknesses in this case will not give anything.

What are the most common causes of a rise in temperature in a child:

• Infections with which children are sick even more often than adults.

For the reproduction of bacteria, and viruses take time, so the symptoms of the disease usually do not appear immediately. In addition, because of the weakness of the immune system, the symptoms can be smoothed, so it may seem that the temperature increase (the usual reaction of the immune system to the introduction of foreign microorganisms or the reproduction of their "relatives") is observed without a cause. But the absence of visible causes of the disease does not mean that the child is healthy. To understand this will help only an experienced pediatrician.

• Overheating of the body.

We have already mentioned that the child's thermoregulation system does not work as clearly as in an adult, so the increased physical activity of the baby (which is normal) can cause a slight rise in body temperature (up to 37.5 degrees, and sometimes even higher) .

Breasts can overheat even on cold days, if during sleep the baby is too wrapped up, as happens when you go for a walk in the winter. But this is already dangerous not only by raising the temperature. The sweating baby can then sit in a stroller and freeze, which will cause a fever for more than a reason, because the runny nose and cough will join.

And one more nuance. The child after the walk will have to dress up in dry clothes, and it costs Mom to hesitate, the child's body will cool down instantly, and soon the symptoms of a cold will appear.

In summer, you need to ensure that the child is not long in the sun, and even more so with an uncovered head. If the solar activity is high and the street is too stuffy, from walks better and completely refrain, which will help to avoid overheating and fever in the child.

• Teething.

This is already a purely child's problem, and it can disturb a child from 4-5 months and up to 2 and a half years, while the milk teeth will be cut. And it must be said that such a natural process is not asymptomatic. In addition to raising the temperature, you can notice other manifestations: increased salivation, lack of appetite, tearfulness. These symptoms, of course, are not specific, but still can hint to mom, what causes the heat in the baby.

Some symptoms can be noticed even earlier. For example, on the eve of teething, the child constantly draws to the mouth the hands and various small objects that can scratch the inflamed gums. In the mouth of the baby you can grope enlarged gums and even sharp edges of the teeth.

Usually, the temperature in the period when the "next" zubik "climbs" increases to 38 degrees. If there are any complications, it can rise higher. During this period, you need to be careful with outdoor walks, especially in cold weather.

Once again, we will focus on infections. It should be understood that not only angina, acute respiratory viral infection or influenza can occur with fever. A child may become ill with another infectious disease, but because of a small age, he will not be able to tell his parents about the symptoms that torment him.

For example, one of the frequent pathologies in childhood is pharyngitis. At the child at an acute current of illness the temperature will be in limits 37,5-38, and, apparently, nothing hurts. The tongue and tonsils can remain unchanged or slightly inflamed, but if you carefully examine the back of the pharynx, you can see redness and the appearance of small granules or sores. The danger of pharyngitis is that it can precede such childhood pathologies as measles, scarlet fever, rubella.

With a high fever, usually not only bacterial angina occurs, when we see red throat, whitish plaque and purulent foci on the tonsils, and the child cries and refuses to eat, because it is difficult for him to swallow (for children up to the age of two, they rarely get this pathology). Herpetic angina also can occur with a high fever, while on the pharynx, palatine arches and tonsils will appear only shallow transparent bubbles, and instead of severe pain there will be little discomfort.

If the child's fever has risen, and the throat does not turn red, you should examine the mucous membranes of the mouth. The appearance of vesicles and ulcers on them is associated with stomatitis. Parents can immediately not notice that the child has increased salivation, and the refusal to eat is perceived as a normal whim.

By the way, if the temperature rises, the infection does not need to be in the mouth or throat. The cause of fever may be acute otitis media (inflammation of the middle ear). External manifestations of the disease is not, therefore, whims and a constant feeling of the ear, parents are not always associated with inflammation.

In children older than 9 months, the temperature can be associated with exanthema - an acute viral infection caused by the herpesvirus type 6 and 7, as well as some other viruses. At the beginning of the disease, no symptoms, in addition to a strong rise in temperature, are usually observed. Later, diarrhea joins, and the rash generally appears after the temperature starts to decrease. Usually, pathology affects children up to 2 years of age.

It is not necessary to exclude and urinary tract infections, the only symptoms of which can be fever and frequent urination, which parents can associate with the fact that the child on the eve of supercooled (for example, a long walk in the street). In fact, everything can be much more serious, and a rise in temperature should serve as a signal to call a doctor.

A slight increase in temperature can be observed in the child and against the background of an allergic reaction (the same diathesis in infants). All the same, an allergy is a small inflammatory process in response to the effect of an irritant (allergen), and the inflammation usually proceeds with an elevated temperature, indicating that the immune system has become involved in the fight against "pests". Will there be any other symptoms, this is another question. Yes, and not accustomed to associating moms with fever with allergies, especially if they have not had it in childhood. Many do not consider diathesis the reason for fever. But after all the organism of each child is individual, and the fact that the temperature did not have a mom does not mean that it should not be in the child.

Raise the body temperature in the child can and poisoning. Usually it is characteristic of food poisoning. In this case, the temperature can rise even above 40 degrees, which indicates a strong intoxication of the body. At the same time, the temperature, although it is a protective reaction of the body against bacteria that enter the body together with spoiled food, is considered a particularly dangerous symptom for the child. Children are heavier than adults, tolerate intoxication, they have a greater risk of developing dehydration, and the consequences of poisoning in a child with a fragile organism can be much more dangerous than adults.

Usually, during poisoning, there are other symptoms: abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea. But not all parents understand that the temperature is also one of the manifestations of intoxication, so it is not worth to be surprised at its appearance in this case.

As we see in children, the reasons for raising the temperature are no less than in adults. In addition, they have their own childhood illnesses that do not threaten their parents. The reason that  high temperature in children occurs without a reason,  it is necessary to consider the inability of parents to read the signals given to them by a small child. In fact, the reason is always, but not always the kid can clearly tell about it.

Pathogenesis

Pathogenesis of fever

There is a certain percentage of people who have a high body temperature. This is a consequence of disruption in the work of the subcortical apparatus of the brain, and in particular of the hypothalamus, which regulates the temperature indexes depending on the changing environmental conditions. In such people, hyperthermia is observed on a continuous basis and is the only symptom of a disorder called the hypothalamic syndrome. And the indicators of "normal" temperature can reach 39 degrees, which the body will still need to get used to, because such a state can last for several years.

We used to call heat "fever" or "fever". But these names are more justified for hyperthermia caused by such pathological causes as inflammations, infections, intoxications, etc. When it comes to overfatigue, overheating, stressful situations or persistent disruption of the hypothalamus, it will be more correct to limit ourselves to the term "hyperthermia", which perfectly reflects the essence of the problem.

The regulation of body temperature is one of many physiological processes that occur daily in our body at the level of the conditioned reflex. In a newborn, this mechanism is not yet perfect, so babies have a high fever without causes, indicating that the body is overheated, it happens more often than in adults. But over time, everything is adjusted without outside interference, and the body temperature is maintained within 36.6-36.8 degrees.

As we have already understood, the area of the brain called the hypothalamus is responsible for regulating body temperature. This small organ contains various centers, responsible not only for regulating the temperature regime, but also controlling saturation, sleep and wakefulness and many other processes.

Under the control of the hypothalamus there are endocrine and vegetative systems, so it is not surprising that in the pathology of the organs of these two systems, temperature jumps can be observed, again indicating a violation of the work of the controlling body.

But how does the hypothalamus know which way to correct the temperature regime? Throughout our body a great many sensitive receptors are scattered, transmitting impulses along the nervous system to the brain. The hypothalamus receives such impulses (a signal to action) from the thermoreceptors, and they are obtained from endogenous pyrogen - substances produced by our cells in response to intoxication (intoxication can be caused by poisons, for example, alcohol, or toxins of the multiplying herd of non-useful microorganisms).

Receiving signals from thermoreceptors, the hypothalamus begins to actively restore the disturbed balance between heat transfer and heat production in the body, necessary for the exercise of a protective function. This can explain the increase in body temperature when the infection enters the body. High temperatures are detrimental to microbes, which helps the cells of the immune system to quickly deal with them.

In cancerous diseases, overly active malignant cells begin to produce pyrogenic substances in the fission process, which leads to an increase in temperature during the active growth of tumors. Thus, malignant cells deceive the hypothalamus, and the man as a result suffers a fever, the cause of which can not be understood. But this does not mean that it does not exist.

What happens if a person experiences overtaxation or overheating? Why does the temperature rise in this case? What is the hypothalamus doing at this time?

There are many questions, but the answer is one. This body has a lot of work, but it is included in it only at the signal. If there is no infection in the body, then the production of pyrogens is minimal, which means that there is no one to transmit the signal to the hypothalamus. Here it is idle in this respect, it does not regulate the heat transfer, which remains low, while the body temperature rises under the influence of heat from outside or increased energy production inside the body. A decrease in temperature occurs when energy production is reduced (a person rests or calms down after disturbances) or the body is heated outside.

Complications and consequences

From the point of view of the danger to health, it is necessary to consider both the very fact of a strong rise in temperature, and the pathological causes that cause such a reaction of the organism. As for the first question, the temperature up to 37.5 degrees is not dangerous in itself, especially if a person feels quite normal at the same time.

Of course, if the temperature is associated with an acute infectious-inflammatory disease, doctors recommend refraining from walking and active physical work, which will weaken the strength of a person. And they during the activation of the immune system are especially needed to fight infection.

In principle, doctors believe that it is necessary to shoot down the temperature in adults only if its value is beyond 38-38.5 degrees. This is in view of the fact that not all people react to the temperature the same way. Some even 37 degrees can be knocked down, while others quietly go to work (it's just not worth doing this!), When the thermometer's column rises to 37.5-38 degrees. But in any case, to prevent the body from fighting the disease is not worth it, because the high temperature (within 37.5-39 degrees) has a harmful effect on microbes, and knocking it down we only allow the pathogens to multiply further.

As for children, the indicator of a thermometer of 38.5 degrees is not considered a dangerous limit. But you need to understand that children, like adults, suffer fever and fever in different ways. If the baby, despite the illness, remains bouncy, does not act up and does not cry, do not use antipyretic drugs until the temperature rises to 39 degrees. When the indicator of the thermometer starts to approach the mark of 39.3-39.5, one can start with alternative means of reducing the temperature. To resort to tablets is recommended only at inefficiency of accessible traditional recipes of alternative medicine.

What kind of danger can the body temperature be above 39 degrees? The rise in temperature is actually an instinct for self-preservation of the body. If the brain received a signal about the presence of "strangers" in the body, he throws all his strength to fight them. The increase in temperature in this case is necessary to increase the intensity of blood circulation and metabolism, which along with the conditions that are unsuitable for the life of microorganisms will contribute to the destruction of the infection.

But the intensification of the intensity of various processes in the body is associated with a large expenditure of energy and an increased need for oxygen. Why do doctors advise you to refrain from active activities and provide access to fresh air during the temperature rise up to 39 degrees, because it allows you to save energy and prevent tissue hypoxia.

If the temperature becomes even higher, deficit conditions begin to appear associated with a violation of the water-salt balance (with fever, more water should be drunk that evaporates from the heat released by the body), depletion of energy reserves, lack of oxygen (dehydration leads to an increase in blood viscosity, which now not so intensively carries oxygen through the vessels).

In the first place, the heart suffers. On the one hand, he needs to provide intensive work, and on the other - the myocardium begins to feel a great need for oxygen, which the blood no longer provides. Even increased blood flow under the influence of temperature does not solve the problem of energy supply to myocardium of the heart. A further increase in temperature to 40-41 degrees is a risk of rupture of the heart walls (myocardial infarction).

Other organs suffer from dehydration. Stronger than all are experiencing the negative effects of high temperature of the brain (CNS) and kidneys. Reducing the amount of fluid increases the overall intoxication of the body. In the urine, the concentration of toxic substances disturbing the work of the kidneys increases.

The CNS reaction can manifest itself in the appearance of febrile seizures, which often occur in children and can cause respiratory arrest, and brain edema. All this is associated with a violation of the regulatory functions of the nervous system. It is clear that the depression of the central nervous system will necessarily affect the work of the heart and respiratory system. The frequency of contractions of the heart will begin to decrease, blood pressure will fall, as will the frequency of breathing. Further increase in temperature can already result in death.

Already by itself, a change in the density of blood is fraught with danger. And if at a temperature above 39 degrees do not take anticoagulants (vitamin C, aspirin, etc.), there is a risk of formation of intravascular thrombi and cardiac arrest, which will not be able to pump too viscous liquid.

Especially dangerous is a prolonged temperature increase. If the temperature of 39 degrees lasts more than 3 days, it is fraught with various dangerous disorders in the body. For children, this threshold is lower (38.5) because of the danger of developing fibrillation cramps and stopping the breathing, which can lead to the death of the child.

The temperature above 40 degrees is dangerous to life, no matter how long it is observed.

But as we said, the danger in itself is not so much high temperature (it almost always can be knocked down by pharmacy or alternative means), how many pathological causes that cause it. The absence of other symptoms of the disease is fraught with a late address to a doctor for advice and treatment.

If the temperature of an adult rises to 37.5 without some other alarming symptoms, a person may simply not pay attention to it. If the fever causes a deterioration in well-being or interferes with the performance of professional duties, future patients are simply knocked down by febrifugal agents, which in no way contributes to the fight against the causative agents of a still hidden disease.

Active life against the background of high temperature weakens the body, reduces its immunity, allowing the infection to swell in all or worse still go for a walk around the body. So the sore throat, transferred on legs, can give complications to different vital organs: lungs, kidneys, heart, hearing organs, etc. The same can be said about other diseases that occur with an increase in temperature.

A high temperature without a cause in a child is rarely left without attention of adults. But again, not all of them immediately rush to call a pediatrician at home, because it can be just a symptom of teething or overheating, which does not require the participation of a doctor.

Expecting the appearance of other symptoms, we just lose valuable time. The acute stage of the disease, when the treatment is most effective, usually lasts a short time, and then, in the absence of treatment, the disease can easily go into a chronic form and remind oneself of episodes of fever (usually during exacerbations) throughout life.

And it's good even if it's a relatively harmless pathology. But after all, a fever may also be evidence of an oncological disease (sometimes with rapid development). And the sooner the treatment is started, the more a person will have a chance to live.

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Diagnostics of the high fever without cause in adults

By itself, a high temperature without a cause can not be considered a testimony of a particular disease. It can occur under the influence of various factors. Most often, it is infectious and inflammatory processes in the body, and then the temperature can be easily brought down with the help of antipyretic drugs. Less common are other causes (immunodeficiency, parasites, some viruses, etc.), and then the temperature for a long time adheres to low-grade values (up to 38 degrees), not succumbing to a decrease in conventional drugs.

Even an experienced therapist or pediatrician, to whom we can address a problem such as a fever without visible symptoms of the disease, will not be able to say specifically what we are dealing with until further research is done. Another thing is that in most cases we ourselves do not know what to consider as symptoms of the disease. We simply do not pay attention to such manifestations as weakness, fatigue, deterioration of appetite and others, without linking them to a possible disease. For the doctor, everything is important, so at the reception you need to talk about all the nuances of increasing temperature.

In addition to listening to the lungs and examining the throat, the doctor will necessarily ask leading questions: what kind of food did the person take on the eve of the fever, did he contact animals, were there such cases in the working (school, student, kindergarten) team, did the patient visit exotic countries in the near future etc. We will also need to talk about such symptoms, which seem to us harmless, but in fact they can be symptoms of a sluggish illness.

Much more information can be given to the doctor by laboratory tests. The patient is assigned blood tests (general and biochemical, in addition, it may be necessary to donate blood for glucose and coagulogram) and urine (most common, and if there is a suspicion of impaired renal function, Nechiporenko's analysis, etc.).

If there is an infection in the body, its presence will be shown even by a general blood test, not to mention an inflammatory reaction whose intensity can be estimated by the number of leukocytes. If we are talking about the genitourinary system, a much higher level of leukocytes will also be in the urine, plus it will be a protein.

Infectious diseases (especially in the absence of symptoms that allow a preliminary diagnosis) require more detailed research. Patients are assigned tests for bacterial / fungal microflora and antibodies to viruses.

The general and biochemical analysis of blood helps to suspect not only infectious pathologies, but also oncology, which will require additional blood donation to oncomarkers. The diagnosis is confirmed with the help of cytological and histological studies of the affected tissues.

If you suspect a virus infection with worms, you will have to pass an analysis of feces that will not only diagnose the disease, but also reveal its pathogen.

If the results of the studies do not give an unambiguous answer about the cause of the temperature increase, the patient is assigned additional instrumental diagnostics. It can be a chest X-ray, ultrasound of internal organs, which is suspected by a doctor, a computer and magnetic resonance tomogram of various parts of the body, dopplerography (study of blood vessels).

Since high temperature can adversely affect the activity of the heart, it is checked to see if it works: pulse and blood pressure measurement, electrocardiogram. The latter, along with blood research, will help not only to assess the performance of the human motor, but also to reveal such a dangerous pathology as infective endocarditis.

Diagnosis of high temperature without a cause is a rather complex process, the decisive role in which is assigned to differential diagnostics. Still, the absence of other symptoms other than temperature makes it much more difficult to identify the cause of the disease.

For example, according to Dr. Komarovsky, hardened babies have respiratory viral infections at least as often as non-hardened babies. But the disease in the first can only happen with an increase in temperature, and other symptoms within 3-5 days of the disease may not appear at all, and will be an indicator that the organism is quite tolerably coping with the infection on its own.

But a high fever without symptoms at the age of 2.5 years may be a consequence of overheating of the child (it will not last long) or teething (in this case it is difficult to predict how long the hyperthermia will last). The doctor's task is to identify the cause of the disease, because the same ARI, flu, angina require treatment (you need to help the body to defeat the infection), and if the cause is in the teeth that break out, special treatment is not required.

Even more difficult to conduct temperature diagnostics without a cause in adults with accumulated baggage of chronic diseases. Sometimes multiple analyzes and examinations are required to get to the bottom of the hidden cause.

Treatment of the high fever without cause in adults

The absence of a visible cause of the disease is not an occasion to treat the symptom blithely, as to some interference that can be removed with antipyretics. The rise in temperature is a normal reaction of the body to the presence of infection, which also provides a protective function. To knock down the temperature just because it prevents us from feeling healthy means to prevent the body from treating itself. But is it reasonable?

If you do not pay attention to the subfebrile temperature that lasts for a week or more, you can miss the dangerous disease, which will also make further treatment more difficult when the need for therapy is already obvious (for example, there will be other symptoms indicating malfunctioning of various organs and systems) . So you can run an oncological disease or for a long time to be a carrier of HIV infection, without even knowing it.

But not to bring down the temperature, threatening serious violations of vital organs and systems, too, can not. How to do the right thing?

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Prevention

With regard to prevention, even hardening can not save us from fever. After all, this is a normal physiological reaction of the body, which tries to protect itself from the encroachments of alien microorganisms. And worry should not increase the temperature, and its absence when there are signs of diseases that usually occur against a background of subfebrile (moderate) or febrile (high) temperatures. If the temperature does not rise, then the body does not fight the disease, and the blame may be weakened immunity.

By raising the temperature, the body tells us about the problem, and our task is to help it fight it and not exacerbate the situation. With hyperthermia of any etiology, first of all you need to provide a person with peace, fresh air and plenty of drinking.

To carry the temperature on the legs without consequences can only small children, and then they are recommended bed rest. In adults, such carelessness is fraught with various complications. The body should rest and gain strength to fight the disease, especially since the load on the organs during the rise in temperature is extremely high.

It is not necessary to go to the hospital with high fever and sit out long queues under the doctor's office. The therapist or pediatrician should be called to the house whenever possible, and during the waiting period to monitor the temperature changes. With severe hyperthermia and fever, we take measures to reduce the temperature (first folk, and then traditional medicamentous) and are in bed, armed with enough natural vitamin drinks. The liquid will help to keep the temperature from excessive rising and prevent such an unsafe condition as dehydration.

High fever (above 39-39, degrees) without cause or in combination with other symptoms of the disease can harm the body, and therefore can not tolerate it. But a premature forced drop in temperature will not bring much benefit, but it can aggravate the situation by weakening the defenses of the body. It is very important to clearly understand the time when it will be time to resort to serious treatment, about the possibilities of which it is always superfluous to consult a treating doctor, and not to engage in self-diagnosis and ineffective treatment. All the same, fever and fever is not a disease, but only one of its symptoms, which means that it is not always necessary to limit the temperature reduction.

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Forecast

Such a phenomenon as a high temperature without a cause can in fact have so many causes, most of which are pathological, that it is not possible to make any predictions regarding the treatment of identified diseases. The only thing that can be said with great accuracy is that an early visit to a doctor with a persistent rise in temperature for several days even in the absence of other symptoms significantly increases the chances of a quick recovery, and in some cases (for example, with cancer or acute intoxication) even helps save the life of the patient.

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