These are all common questions for the care of adults as well as children. I'm Dr. Dena Hall, a family physician with Eastern Virginia Medical School.
Body temperature is determined by a balance between heat production and heat loss .
It is normal for body temperatures to vary throughout the day, and normal temperatures for adults are different from children's normal. The normal high temperature occurs in the early evening and low in the early morning. Many things can cause a fever, but the most common cause is infection . The potential causes of infection are influenced by things such as the patient's age and underlying disorders that reduce resistance or predispose to infection. There is some disagreement about whether to use medicines such as acetaminophen to lower a temperature.