Main description:

This book provides a detailed overview of the function of the nervous system in fever and its role in antipyresis. The volume opens with an introductory account of fever, its physiology and adaptive role, and explains the mechanisms of thermoregulation. Sufficient information about bacterial pyrogens, 'endogenous' pyrogenic cytokines, body temperature regulation and survival value of fever and its ubiquity is given to enable readers to follow the central nervous system's involvement. The book should enable graduate students and researchers in neuroscience and other disciplines to understand the impact of their studies in the overall processes of fever. It will also be of benefit to pharmacologists studying anti-pyretics and the central nervous system function of these drugs. Academic clinicians will find this a more comprehensive overview of fever than other available texts. Finally, the author challenges some well-established dogmas in this area and sets an agenda for future research.

Contents:

Preface; 1. Fever - definition, usefulness, ubiquity; 2. Thermoregulation - an outline; 3. The nature of pyrogens, their origins and mode of release; 4. The loci of action of endogenous mediators of fever; 5. Beyond the loci of action of circulating pyrogens: mediators and mechanisms; 6. The role of the cerebral cortex, the limbic system, peripheral nervous system and spinal cord, and induced changes in intracranial pressure; 7. Antipyresis; 8. Febrile convulsions in children and a possible role for vasopressin; 9. A synthesis, predictions and speculation from my armchair; Appendix 1: Anatomical considerations; References; Index.