China
Africa
Explore chapters and articles related to this topic
The immune and lymphatic systems, infection and sepsis
Published in Peate Ian, Dutton Helen, Acute Nursing Care, 2020
Michelle Treacy, Caroline Smales, Helen Dutton
Changes in the body’s ability to control its own temperature can occur when infection develops. Fever or pyrexia is derived from the Latin word febris, or febrile. Fever occurs when the body temporarily fails to maintain the temperature within normal limits. Fever accelerates tissue metabolism and the activity of defences. The set-point is elevated by 1–2°C and is a symptom of many medical conditions and one of the oldest indicators of disease. In response to a stimulus, such as inflammation or the release of endotoxins from bacteria, leucocytes release endogenous pyrogens, ‘fire starters’, or cytokines into the bloodstream. These chemicals act directly on the thermostat or ‘set-point’ in the hypothalamus, causing the release of prostaglandin and elevating or resetting the hypothalamic set-point to a higher level. However, hypothermia, a lower-than-normal body temperature, can occur and is often a bad sign, especially in sepsis. 20% of septic patients present with hypothermia rather than hyperthermia, making a drop in temperature an important sign to note. Sepsis patients with hypothermia have twice the mortality of those who are normothermic or pyrexial (Kushimoto et al. 2013; Drewry et al. 2015; Wiewel et al. 2016). The mechanism of sepsis-induced hypothermia, though, is poorly understood. Scientific literature suggests it is the dis-regulated inflammatory cytokine responses, as well as physiological alterations of the temperature regulation centre in the hypothalamus, that are responsible for this response.
The immune and lymphatic systems, infection and sepsis
Published in Ian Peate, Helen Dutton, Acute Nursing Care, 2014
Andrea Blay, Jacqui Finch, Helen Dutton
Fever or pyrexia is derived from the latin word febris or febrile. Fever occurs when the body temporarily fails to maintain the temperature within normal limits. Fever accelerates tissue metabolism and the activity of defences (Martini and Ober 2011). The set-point is elevated by 1– 2°C and is a symptom of many medical conditions and one of the oldest indicators of disease. In response to a stimulus, such as inflammation or the release of endotoxins from bacteria, leucocytes release endogenous pyrogens, ‘fire starters’, or cytokines into the bloodstream. These chemicals act directly on the thermostat or ‘set-point’ in the hypothalamus, causing the release of prostaglandin and elevating or resetting the hypothalamic set-point to a higher level.
René Cruchet (1875–1959), beyond encephalitis lethargica
Published in Journal of the History of the Neurosciences, 2022
As Charles Achard (1860–1944) noted in 1921, historical surveys suggested that similar epidemic illnesses had been observed previously. Thomas Sydenham (1624–1689) reported the 1673–1675 febris comatosa epidemic outbreak (Sydenham 1676). Alexander Camerarius (1696–1736) reported a “Schlafkrankheit” epidemic in 1712 in Tübingen (Camerarius 1715). In 1830, Friedrich A. Gottlob Berndt (1793–1854) of Greifswald first reported the term “encephalitis lethargica” in “soporose” cases after scarlet fever in children (Berndt 1830; Crookshank 1919). A mysterious disorder characterized by fever and continuous somnolence, named “nona,” was initially described in northern Italy and adjacent areas of central Europe in the winter of 1889/90. It was perhaps a form of meningoencephalitis associated with influenza or, potentially, the first occurrence of encephalitis lethargica (sleeping sickness). Nevertheless, Cruchet repeatedly insisted he was the first to recognize the disease, rather than the more famous von Economo—which was, in fact, true (Achard 1921).
Stephanus Bisius (1724–1790) on mania and melancholy, and the disorder called plica polonica
Published in Journal of the History of the Neurosciences, 2021
Eglė Sakalauskaitė-Juodeikienė, Paul Eling, Stanley Finger
Bisius would publish a third work a year later, in 1773. It was titled Epistola medico-anatomica de methodo adhibita in curatione febris malignae malignorum refellens obtrectationes ad rationales philosophiae et medicinae profesores [Medical-Anatomical Letter about the Methods used in the Treatment of Malignant Fever, Refuting Criticism Toward Rational Professors of Philosophy and Medicine]. Here, he carefully described the signs and symptoms of malignant fever in one of his patients, a 28-year-old Jesuit, along with his treatments (Bisius 1773).