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Fits right in with the Native American practice of putting the ill in a Sweat Lodge.
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Scientists identify source of fevers
BOSTON, Aug. 7 (UPI) -- U.S. medical scientists have discovered the source of fevers and how they help protect the body during illness.
"Our laboratory identified the key site in the brain at which a hormone called prostaglandin E2, or PGE2, acts on a target, called the EP3 receptor, on neurons to cause the fever response," said Dr. Clifford Saper, professor of neurology and neuroscience at Harvard Medical School and chairman of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center's neurology department.
During an infection or illness, the body produces hormones known as cytokines that, in turn, act on blood vessels in the brain to produce PGE2, which enters the brain's hypothalamus, causing fever, he said.
"When body temperature is elevated by a few degrees, white blood cells can fight infections more effectively," Saper added. "Also, individuals tend to become achy and lethargic. Consequently, they tend to take it easy, thereby conserving their energy so that they can better fight the infection. That is why so many different types of illness result in more or less the same sickness behaviors."
The findings appear in the advance online issue of Nature Neuroscience.
BOSTON, Aug. 7 (UPI) -- U.S. medical scientists have discovered the source of fevers and how they help protect the body during illness.
"Our laboratory identified the key site in the brain at which a hormone called prostaglandin E2, or PGE2, acts on a target, called the EP3 receptor, on neurons to cause the fever response," said Dr. Clifford Saper, professor of neurology and neuroscience at Harvard Medical School and chairman of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center's neurology department.
During an infection or illness, the body produces hormones known as cytokines that, in turn, act on blood vessels in the brain to produce PGE2, which enters the brain's hypothalamus, causing fever, he said.
"When body temperature is elevated by a few degrees, white blood cells can fight infections more effectively," Saper added. "Also, individuals tend to become achy and lethargic. Consequently, they tend to take it easy, thereby conserving their energy so that they can better fight the infection. That is why so many different types of illness result in more or less the same sickness behaviors."
The findings appear in the advance online issue of Nature Neuroscience.