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Average body temperature is not 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit as it is getting lower; Here's Why
Our normal body temperature is getting lower than 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. Researchers still don't know what is causing this change. Read on to know more.
We were aware that 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit is the normal body temperature. The recent research saw that normal body temperature is actually lower than 98.6 and can vary by gender, size, age, time of day and other factors. The research was published last week in 'eLife'. It showed the body temperature has not only dropped since German physician Carl Reinhold August Wunderlich’s study in 1851 which established the average body temperature as 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, but it has also dropped since the 1970s. Our normal body temperature has dropped about 0.05 degrees Fahrenheit per decade based on our birth year. But Parsonnet’s research indicates that it's still unknown when it comes to the continued decrease in body temperature.
Parsonnet and other researchers took three groups of temperature for the research data from a study that recorded Civil War veterans’ temperatures from the mid-1800s through 1930, data from the 1970s recorded by the Centers for Disease Control and the temperatures of patients visiting Stanford health clinics from 2007 to 2017. The research said that the body temperature of males born in the 2000s is 1.06 degrees lower than the males born in the 1800s. And the temperature of females born in the 2000s is 0.58 degrees Fahrenheit lower than the females born in the 1890s. It means that only advancements in the thermometers and calculating research are not the possible explanation for this change.
The research further says that it's still unclear what is causing this change in body temperature. According to Parsonnet, it means moving forward. Some think that people have grown taller and heavier, as a result, the metabolic rates have slowed. Parsonnet also said that modern medicine's treatment on some diseases like syphilis, tuberculosis and periodontal diseases can also affect the body temperature.
But it's important to find out why this is happening. People should understand how they feel instead of only checking the thermometer. Dr. Edward Ward from Rush University said he only focuses on extreme cases such as above 100 degrees Fahrenheit on fever and below 94 for hypothermia. He said certain changes are normal but not the abnormalities. Ward further said, 'There is a difference between having the medically considered temperature on fever and feeling feverish. If you are normally 96 and suddenly it becomes 99, then, of course, you will feel uncomfortable'.
