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The Treatment of Fever from a Clinical Viewpoint

  • Chapter
Pyretics and Antipyretics

Part of the book series: Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology ((HEP,volume 60))

Abstract

In most clinical settings, the reduction of elevated body temperature is a routine procedure. During the past 200 years, increasingly more sophisticated pharmacological agents have expanded our ability to reduce body temperature, while several physical methods have been available for over 25 centuries. Despite the variety of procedures which can lower body temperature, treatment should be appropriate for the particular clinical problem. For example, the physician who is treating a patient with a febrile illness considers whether reducing the fever will obscure information concerning the progress of the disease or the effectiveness of a particular drug. Other aspects which should be considered include the physical status of the patient, the cause of the temperature elevation, and whether the elevation of body temperature is harmful to the patient.

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Authors
  1. C. A. Dinarello
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacology, University of Aberdeen, Marischal College, AB9 1AS, Aberdeen, Scotland, Great Britain

    Anthony S. Milton

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© 1982 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Dinarello, C.A. (1982). The Treatment of Fever from a Clinical Viewpoint. In: Milton, A.S. (eds) Pyretics and Antipyretics. Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology, vol 60. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-68569-9_16

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-68569-9_16

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-68571-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-68569-9

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