Did You Know This? I Kinda Knew This

Human body temperature in the U.S. has decreased over time, study finds”

I figured out years ago that my own body temp is down in the low 97s. I would feel feverish but couldn’t “prove” it because I was reading 98.6 or 98.5. Later, taking my kids’ temps when they were not sick, I realized their normal temperatures were lower as well. Now, it turns out it’s not just us. It’s pretty much everyone.

Just another example of how a firmly established fact can be slightly wrong … wrong enough to cause us trouble.

8 thoughts on “Did You Know This? I Kinda Knew This

  1. Philip Davis's avatar Philip Davis

    Very interesting, Ms. Mugrage. This information will be comforting when I wander desert New Mexico in 100-degree heat! Thank you for sharing. Philip Davis (www.wickingthemoisture.com)

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  2. Em @ The Geeky Jock's avatar Em @ The Geeky Jock

    That’s exceptionally interesting! … and interesting hypotheses! It looks like they attempted to control for thermometers — but, seeing that things were analyzed per dataset, I suspect there’s still a fair amount of variability. (We get new/improved lab equipment all the time … normally updated models from the same company.)

    The “drop in metabolic rate” could also be due to the fact that we’re all exceptionally sedentary vs. 100 years ago.

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    1. Jennifer Mugrage's avatar Jennifer Mugrage

      Yes good point! They do mention that body temp can vary between individuals and varies among individuals by time of day, etc.

      Yes, I wondered about that as well! Was it not just that everyone was slightly infected in the past, but that they were more active? I’ve heard they could put away food like crazy …

      Thanks for your input. It’s always nice to have a scientist chime in.

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