title: Diagnostic implications and clinical consequences of antipyretic therapy.
abstract: It has been suggested that the response to antipyretic therapy might differentiate between fevers due to serious illness and fevers caused by less severe disorders; that neoplastic fevers are more responsive to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs than are infectious fevers; that the metabolic costs of fever can exceeds its clinical benefits; that antipyretic therapy can prevent or reverse febrile seizures in children and fever-associated mental dysfunction in frail elderly patients. This article examines the data on which these assertions are based.
authors: Medical Care Clinical Center, VA Maryland Health Care System and Department of Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA. Philip.Mackowiak@med.va.gov
authors: P A
authors: PA
authors: Mackowiak
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D018712:Analgesics, Non-Narcotic / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000150:complications; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005334:Fever / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications; D003294:Seizures, Febrile / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000517:prevention & control
chemical_list: D018712:Analgesics, Non-Narcotic