TechA new study shows average human body temperature is dropping

A new study shows average human body temperature is dropping

The correct body temperature for a healthy person is commonly believed to be 98 degrees Fahrenheit (37 degrees Celsius). However, the latest research indicates that this value is now outdated. Over time, the average body temperature of people has gradually decreased. What is behind this?

What is the normal temperature of the human body?
What is the normal temperature of the human body?
Images source: © Licensor
Karolina Modzelewska

5 June 2024 14:44

Researchers from Julie Parsonnet's team at Stanford University in California analyzed hundreds of thousands of body temperature measurements over the past 150 years. The conclusions are clear: humans' average body temperature is systematically decreasing. Although a new, precise standard has not yet been established, scientists agree: "What everybody grew up learning, which is that our normal temperature is 98.6, is wrong," summarizes Julie Parsonnet.

is the human body temperature changing?

The research included 677,000 temperature measurements from different periods, encompassing data on Civil War veterans, people born in the first half of the 19th century, measurements from the 1970s, and data from 2007-2017 collected from Stanford Health Care patients.

The collected data indicate a systematic decrease in the average body temperature of humans, which is about 0.05 degrees Fahrenheit (0.03 degrees Celsius) per decade. One of the potential reasons for this phenomenon is that German physician Carl Reinhold August Wunderlich established the body temperature standard, ranging from 97.9 to 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit (36.6 to 37 degrees Celsius) in the mid-19th century. At that time, the health condition of an average person could have been worse than today due to frequent inflammations, which could have raised the average body temperature.

Scientists emphasize that many factors affect the results of body temperature measurements, such as the location of measurement (mouth, armpit, rectum), time of day, gender (women’s temperature is slightly higher and changes depending on the menstrual cycle), metabolism, the composition of the last meal, and the time that has elapsed since then. The quality of measurement instruments is also important.

For this reason, researchers have not indicated a new, specific standard for body temperature, only noting that it is currently lower than commonly accepted as Julie Parsonnet notes, modern people's physiology differs from that of people in the past.

© Daily Wrap
·

Downloading, reproduction, storage, or any other use of content available on this website—regardless of its nature and form of expression (in particular, but not limited to verbal, verbal-musical, musical, audiovisual, audio, textual, graphic, and the data and information contained therein, databases and the data contained therein) and its form (e.g., literary, journalistic, scientific, cartographic, computer programs, visual arts, photographic)—requires prior and explicit consent from Wirtualna Polska Media Spółka Akcyjna, headquartered in Warsaw, the owner of this website, regardless of the method of exploration and the technique used (manual or automated, including the use of machine learning or artificial intelligence programs). The above restriction does not apply solely to facilitate their search by internet search engines and uses within contractual relations or permitted use as specified by applicable law.Detailed information regarding this notice can be found  here.