Covers the normal body temperature range and its daily rhythm, how it is regulated, and the main ways of measuring it, with a comparison of oral, rectal, axillary and tympanic readings. It then defines fever, hyperthermia and hypothermia, and sets out a table of fever patterns such as continuous, remittent, intermittent, relapsing, Pel-Ebstein and step-ladder fever, with typical causes. It ends with advice on charting temperature curves, including recording intervals and factors to correlate with.
Topic 5 of 30 in the MU Sofia syllabus for Internal Medicine (Practical) (Medicine, Year 3). The free AceMed note covers it in 6 sections, about 84 words (2 min of reading), with 15 flashcards.
In this note
Body Temperature & Curves
Normal Body Temperature
How to Measure Body Temperature
Types of Abnormal Temperatures
Fever Patterns (Temperature Curves)
Recording & Charting
Normal Body Temperature
Normal range: 36.5°C to 37.5°C
Regulated by: Hypothalamus (via heat production and loss)
Circadian rhythm: Temperature is usually lower in the morning and higher in the evening
How to Measure Body Temperature
Always record the method and time of measurement in patient records.
Fever Patterns (Temperature Curves)
These patterns are useful for diagnosing specific diseases. Daily monitoring and charting (temperature curves) help identify them.
Recording & Charting
Fever curves are documented on temperature charts.
Plot readings at regular intervals (every 4–6 hours).
Helps correlate with:
Chills/rigors
Sweating episodes
Pulse and respiratory rate
Medication effect (e.g., paracetamol)
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