This book describes The Chills, Diagnosis and Treatment and Related Diseases

This book was written because a patient recently 1 month ago consulted me about feeling cold all the time for almost 6 months.

It was the first time any patient has approached me about the feeling of cold or chills.

I was taken by surprise.

It was the first any patient have approached me for treating such a symptom.

It may understandable if Singapore has winter but Singaporeans enjoy the sun every day of the year.

“Chill man”!

“Stay cool man”!

Chill can be a descriptive slang term that means calm, relaxed, easy going, cool and not in-your-face, or can be a way to ask someone to relax.

What is the symptom ‘Chills’?

The symptom ‘Chills’ refers to feeling cold after being in a cold environment.

I have a patient who recently came to see me after 6 months of feeling chills.

He said that he did not understand why he should be getting chills and feeling cold suddenly.

He has seen most of the doctors and specialists and even traditional Chinese medicine doctors around his residence and did not improve.

All the blood tests and investigations did not showed any abnormalities.

He was recommended to see me by a friend.

I asked him to drink more warm water, wear warmer clothes and avoid taking any things that is too cold and stay away from air conditioned areas.

I decided to place him on anti-cholinergics which are basically antispasmodic but have the side effect of causing warmth and flushing of the skin.

So far he has responded well to the treatment.

The symptom can also indicate an episode of shivering together with paleness and feeling cold.

Chills (shivering) are caused by the rapid fluctuation between muscle contraction and relaxation.

These muscle contractions produce a way the body tries to warm itself up when a person is cold.

Chills are often, though not always, linked with fever.

Occasionally, they happen before the onset of fever, particularly if the fever is produced by an infection.

Chills may or may not be serious, dependent on the underlying cause.

Causes

A person with severe chills feels extremely cold and may be shivering, even when enclosed in blankets.

Chills are often linked to fever (where the body temperature is truly high), but may also be produced by low body temperature (hypothermia).

A walk down a cold, windy street can send a shivery tingle up and down the body, but so can some health disorders, like the flu, kidney stones, or an under active thyroid.

A person gets chills when the muscles in the body squeeze and relax to try to make heat.

This occasionally happens because a person is cold but it can also be an attempt by the immune system (the body's defense against germs) to fight off an infection or illness.

Chills linked with fever are normally produced by an infection attacking the body:

The most common of these infections are:

Common cold

Influenza

Pneumonia including Covid-19

Malaria

Lyme Disease

Infectious Arthritis

Sepsis

Chills without fever can be produced by a number of disorders.

Exposure to cold

Medicine side effect

Reaction to extreme physical activity

Hypothyroidism (under active thyroid)

Hypoglycemia

Hypothermia

Malnutrition

Anemia

Urinary tract infection (Cystitis)

Infection Due to a Kidney Stone

Emotional reaction such as fear and anxiety

Insomnia (Lack of sleep)

Rheumatoid arthritis

Cancer such as lymphoma or leukemia

Chills are sensations of coldness linked with shivering.

They may occur with or without fever.

Investigations involve blood tests for infections, immune disease and cancer.

Low blood sugar and thyroid are important

Treatment is keeping warm and anticholinergic

TABLE OF CONTENT

Introduction

Chapter 1 Chills

Chapter 2 Causes

Chapter 3 Symptoms

Chapter 4 Diagnosis

Chapter 5 Treatment

Chapter 6 Prognosis

Chapter 7 Hypothermia

Chapter 8 Hypoglycemia