What Is The New Average Body Temperature Measure Now?

According to a Standford research, average human body temperature is not 36.6°C anymore.

For a century, we believed that a normal temperature for a healthy person was 36.6°C (98.6°F). As it happens, though, there is no such thing. This long-standing benchmark is called into doubt in a new Stanford University research.

Expert in infectious illnesses Julie Parsonnet oversaw a study that revealed the popularly recognised average temperature of 36.6°C is inaccurate.

From adult outpatients seen at Stanford Health Care from 2008 to 2017, Dr. Parsonnet and her colleagues at Stanford University examined 618,306 mouth temperature readings. They also recorded each patient’s age, sex, weight, height, body mass index, drugs, and medical issues along with the time of the day it was taken.

The results were startling as the average human body temperature they recorded fell between 36.2°C and 36.8°C (97.3°F and 98.2°F). According to this study, the generally accepted normal value is overly high.

“Most people, including many doctors, still believe that 98.6 F is the normal temperature for everyone. Actually, normal varies depending on the individual and the circumstances; it’s hardly as high as 98.6 F, according to Dr. Parsonnet in a statement. The work appears in JAMA Internal Medicine.

The metabolic rate can be the reason behind the US average body temperature declining. The scientists observed that a population-wide decrease in inflammation could have helped to explain this drop. “Inflammation generates all kinds of proteins and cytokines that boost your temperature and metabolism,” Parsonnet said.

Thanks to breakthroughs in medical treatments, better hygiene, more food availability, and higher standards of life, public health has likewise improved dramatically during the previous 200 years.

“Physiologically, we are not what we were in the past. Our surroundings have altered; the temperature in our houses, our interactions with microorganisms, and the food we have access to all have changed. entire these things imply that we are not the same even if we consider humans as if they are monomorphic and have been the same for entire human evolution. Parsonnet remarked, “We are really changing physiologically.”