Why does a small increase in body temperature of 1degree put us into a fever state while we can adapt to higher temperatures on hotter days?

Question

Why does a small increase in body temperature of 1degree put us into a fever state while we can adapt to higher temperatures on hotter days?

In: Biology

Answer 1

First, a one degree change in body temperature is not a fever. Most people’s core body temperature changes by one to two degrees over the course of the day.

Second, your body has mechanisms for maintaining a consistent core temperature as the outside temperature changes (e.g., shivering and sweating, or just slowing or speeding up your metabolism).

If the outside temperature is too hot or too cold for too long, your body will eventually be unable to maintain a normal core temperature, and you can die.

A fever state is a usually a reaction to infection wherein your body chooses to increase its core temp to be hostile to invading organisms. In fact, we have recently realized that the fever can be a helpful part of overcoming infections, and we don’t use tylenol as readily as we used to to bring down the fever.