Fever and Antipyresis: The Role of the Nervous System

This book provides a detailed overview of the function of the central nervous system (CNS) in fever and its role in combating fever (antipyresis). The volume opens with an introductory account of fever, its physiology and adaptive role, and explains the mechanisms of thermoregulation. It then provides information about bacterial pyrogens, endogenous pyrogenic cytokines, body temperature regulation and survival value of fever and its ubiquity, in order to enable readers to follow the CNS involvement. Finally, the author challenges some well established dogmas in this area and sets an agenda for future research. The book will help 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 antipyretics and the CNS function of these drugs. Academic clinicians will find this a more comprehensive overview of fever than other available texts.