Help on another Biology Question:

[FierceFirefly]

Just wondering if anyone is able to help me with this biology question.

When you get an infectious disease you may get a temperature. This is a way your body defends you as many microorganisms cannot reproduce at high temperatures. However, people always try to bring the temperature of an ill person down. Explain why this may be the case. (4marks)
 

I have absolutely no idea where to start here..

[studiot]

18 minutes ago, FierceFirefly said:

Just wondering if anyone is able to help me with this biology question.

When you get an infectious disease you may get a temperature. This is a way your body defends you as many microorganisms cannot reproduce at high temperatures. However, people always try to bring the temperature of an ill person down. Explain why this may be the case. (4marks)
 

I have absolutely no idea where to start here..

This is not a personal criticism, but can you give us some context to the biology questions ?

I ask this because, from your comments around both your biology questions,  you do not seem to have the General Science knowledge to be able to attempt them.

[FierceFirefly]

51 minutes ago, studiot said:

This is not a personal criticism, but can you give us some context to the biology questions ?

I ask this because, from your comments around both your biology questions,  you do not seem to have the General Science knowledge to be able to attempt them.

I'm sorry I'm not really sure all I know is that it is GCSE level biology- year 10 if that helps. I have missed around 6-8 months of school. This isn't very helpful I know. I'm sorry.

54 minutes ago, studiot said:

This is not a personal criticism, but can you give us some context to the biology questions ?

I ask this because, from your comments around both your biology questions,  you do not seem to have the General Science knowledge to be able to attempt them.

All I know for this is that it is to do with enzymes and the pH of enzymes. I am not sure what else I can say to help on this. I'm sorry 

[studiot]

2 hours ago, FierceFirefly said:

When you get an infectious disease you may get a temperature. This is a way your body defends you as many microorganisms cannot reproduce at high temperatures. However, people always try to bring the temperature of an ill person down. Explain why this may be the case. (4marks)

Are these the actual words of the question or your reading of something?

I ask because they are not strictly accurate.

Yes you may 'get a temperature' from a disease but it does not have to be an infectious one. Arthritis would be a common example.

Of course you always 'have a temperature' which may be raised or lowered from normal for many reasons.

So strictly, scientifically speaking you should refer to raised, lowered or normal.

You can also get a raised temperature from physical exertion.

 

All these mechanisms of temperate increase have something in common.

Simply, but scientifically they are due to an increase in metabolic rate, but for different reasons.

Most biochemical processes generate or release energy as heat.

So the faster the process is going the more heat is released.

The body also has mechanisms for temperature regulation (sweating) , so some form of balance is struck.

 

Biochemical processes also have an 'optimum' temperature and both the body's own processes and that of many infectious agents have similar optima.

So as the body metabolism works harder in fighting the infection, the body temperterature begins to rise.

Sometimes sweating is enough to control this sometimes it is a more runaway action we call a fever, depending upon whether the infection or the body is winning.

Helping the body cool artificially increases its chances of success over that of the infectio.
Additionally other body processes can also proceed more normally as they are also adversely affected by raised temperatures.

 

 

 

 

 

[TheVat]

Raised body temperature activates the immune system and helps it work more efficiently.  It also creates a less receptive environment for bacteria and viruses that are very acclimated to a specific narrow temperature range and will replicate more slowly if it gets too warm.

The trick is to get these good effects without driving the temperature so high that it harms or kills you.  Which is why fever management, figuring out when to hold off on fever suppressing drugs and when not to, is an important part of modern medicine.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7195085/

The Fever Paradox.

[sethoflagos]

5 hours ago, FierceFirefly said:

Just wondering if anyone is able to help me with this biology question.

When you get an infectious disease you may get a temperature. This is a way your body defends you as many microorganisms cannot reproduce at high temperatures. However, people always try to bring the temperature of an ill person down. Explain why this may be the case. (4marks)
 

I have absolutely no idea where to start here..

I'm not surprised. It is a very poorly structured question and the above post by @TheVat shows that much of it's premise seems to be factually inaccurate. 

So how do you tackle a question like this?

The best results should be gained by reproducing verbatim the texts provided on the topic during your coursework. This is what the examiners will be expecting. However, if you have missed many of your classes, and have been unable to catch up for one reason or another, that option is unavailable to you. 

If you decide to attempt the question (a case could be made for skipping it), your first challenge is to decide whether the 'this' in the last sentence applies to only the preceding sentence, or the two introductory sentences as well. It isn't at all clear. The second sentence is a partial answer to the opening statement. But we can add a little to that and maybe gain an extra mark. Mainly we should focus on expaining the third sentence. I would present something like this:

Quote

It has been estimated that up until the end of the 19th century, more than half of all humans ever born died of infection accompanied by fever before their fifteenth birthday. The body has evolved highly complex immune responses to infection proportional to this high mortality rate. Fever is part and parcel of that immune response and generally beneficial to the survival of the infected individual.

While it is usually true that microorganism reproduction is reduced at higher body temperatures, this is not the whole story. The higher temperatures substantially elevate the activity of key parts of the immune system to help eliminate the infective agents as quickly as possible.

So if the fever response is generally beneficial, why do people always try to bring the temperature of an ill person down?

1) Historic medical practice.

2) Patient/social expectation.

3) A greater emphasis and reliance on drug therapy over natural immune response.

4) Patient comfort.

5) In cases of temperatures exceeding 40^o C, fear of organ damage.

 Probably, not exactly what the examiners were looking for but I'd be reasonably confident of getting a couple of marks for that. 

 

[mistermack]

There was a time when desperate doctors would deliberately give patients a dose of Malaria, to try to kill the infectious agent of syphilis with the resulting high temperature. It might sound a bit drastic, but having syphilis in those days, with no other cure available, was pretty drastic itself. 

Maybe in the future, if syphilis evolves to be antibiotic resistant, they might need to try it again. Maybe somebody should be researching how to maintain a high temperature in humans, without damge or risk to the patients. Athough that might not turn out to be possible.

[studiot]

3 hours ago, TheVat said:

Raised body temperature activates the immune system and helps it work more efficiently.  It also creates a less receptive environment for bacteria and viruses that are very acclimated to a specific narrow temperature range and will replicate more slowly if it gets too warm.

The trick is to get these good effects without driving the temperature so high that it harms or kills you.  Which is why fever management, figuring out when to hold off on fever suppressing drugs and when not to, is an important part of modern medicine.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7195085/

The Fever Paradox.

How does this answer the question in the OP, which was "explain why this may be the case" ?

 

Actually the question was full of woolly qualifying statements such as may be etc., as is the article TheVat linked to

Quote

Yet mounting evidence suggests that fever may, in fact, be a strategy the body uses to ramp up its defences.

I agree with Seth that the words in the OP were not well posed and the woolly words are not really meat for GCSE which is the first serious science exam taken in British schools at age 15/16.  +1

 

Possibly a better article for this purpose is from Scientific American

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-causes-a-fever/

which offers simple simple but useful information

 

Thanks also MrMack (+1) for pointing out that sometimes we wish to raise body temperature in a controlled way.

Hot paraffin wax baths were once used as a cancer treatment, and are still used today for other purposes.eg

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/paraffin-bath-for-arthritis

There's lots more on the net.

 

But for GCSE, I would expect the student to be able to ask themselves the question

The question says "You may get a temperature"   -  that may again.

How (by what means) does the body temperature rise?

Which leads straight into the material I originally posted.

General Science 101 "A body's temperature rises when heat is input or generated internally."

 

[FierceFirefly]

On 7/14/2023 at 12:45 PM, studiot said:

Are these the actual words of the question or your reading of something?

I ask because they are not strictly accurate.

Yes you may 'get a temperature' from a disease but it does not have to be an infectious one. Arthritis would be a common example.

Of course you always 'have a temperature' which may be raised or lowered from normal for many reasons.

So strictly, scientifically speaking you should refer to raised, lowered or normal.

You can also get a raised temperature from physical exertion.

 

All these mechanisms of temperate increase have something in common.

Simply, but scientifically they are due to an increase in metabolic rate, but for different reasons.

Most biochemical processes generate or release energy as heat.

So the faster the process is going the more heat is released.

The body also has mechanisms for temperature regulation (sweating) , so some form of balance is struck.

 

Biochemical processes also have an 'optimum' temperature and both the body's own processes and that of many infectious agents have similar optima.

So as the body metabolism works harder in fighting the infection, the body temperterature begins to rise.

Sometimes sweating is enough to control this sometimes it is a more runaway action we call a fever, depending upon whether the infection or the body is winning.

Helping the body cool artificially increases its chances of success over that of the infectio.
Additionally other body processes can also proceed more normally as they are also adversely affected by raised temperatures.

 

 

 

 

 

Hi yes this is the exact wording of the question.

[StringJunky]

One is based on folklore, geared to  relieving symptoms, and the other one on science.

Edited July 15, 2023 by StringJunky

[studiot]

18 hours ago, FierceFirefly said:

Hi yes this is the exact wording of the question.

Thanks.

I hope this thread and your other one has been of use.

 

Good luck with your studies, and don't be afraid to ask.

[paulsutton]

On 7/14/2023 at 12:45 PM, studiot said:

Are these the actual words of the question or your reading of something?

I ask because they are not strictly accurate.

Yes you may 'get a temperature' from a disease but it does not have to be an infectious one. Arthritis would be a common example.

Of course you always 'have a temperature' which may be raised or lowered from normal for many reasons.

So strictly, scientifically speaking you should refer to raised, lowered or normal.

You can also get a raised temperature from physical exertion.

 

All these mechanisms of temperate increase have something in common.

Simply, but scientifically they are due to an increase in metabolic rate, but for different reasons.

Most biochemical processes generate or release energy as heat.

So the faster the process is going the more heat is released.

The body also has mechanisms for temperature regulation (sweating) , so some form of balance is struck.

 

Biochemical processes also have an 'optimum' temperature and both the body's own processes and that of many infectious agents have similar optima.

So as the body metabolism works harder in fighting the infection, the body temperterature begins to rise.

Sometimes sweating is enough to control this sometimes it is a more runaway action we call a fever, depending upon whether the infection or the body is winning.

Helping the body cool artificially increases its chances of success over that of the infectio.
Additionally other body processes can also proceed more normally as they are also adversely affected by raised temperatures.

 

Is it important to note that cooling too quickly can cause shock,  which is why people who, on a hot day have jumped in to a lake or colder water and drowned (or suffered other harm) as their body has gone in to shock due to the sudden temperature change

So temperature needs to be lowered slowly I guess.  

On 7/14/2023 at 12:45 PM, studiot said:

 

 

 

 

 

[mistermack]

5 hours ago, paulsutton said:

Is it important to note that cooling too quickly can cause shock,  which is why people who, on a hot day have jumped in to a lake or colder water and drowned (or suffered other harm) as their body has gone in to shock due to the sudden temperature change

So temperature needs to be lowered slowly I guess.  

That sort of shock does happen to people when the water is close to zero degrees, I seem to remember. I don't know if that carries over to water that is cold, but not that cold. The Romans used to design temperature shock into their bath-house experience, going straight from hot to cold. I don't recall reading about them dropping dead from it, but maybe they did. With coldish outdoor pools, some people like to dive straight in, others like to do it gradually. I'm one of those, but I have to admit that diving straight in gets it over with quicker.