Antipyretic Therapy

Antipyretic therapy is the use of substances that reduce fever, causing the hypothalamus to override a prostaglandin induced increase in body temperature so that the body works to lower its temperature, reducing the fever. Most antipyretic medications have other purposes as well, and the most common antipyretics in the United States are typically ibuprofen and aspirin, nonsteroidal anti inflammatory drugs used primarily as anti inflammatories and analgesics that also have antipyretic properties, and paracetamol, also known as acetaminophen, an analgesic without anti inflammatory properties. There is some debate over the appropriate use of antipyretic therapy, since fever is part of the body's immune response to infection, and one study published by the Royal Society found that fever suppression was associated with at least one percent more influenza deaths in the United States, or around seven hundred extra deaths per year.