Our body has surprisingly become colder than what is used to roughly 150 years ago. The normal body temperature that used to be 98.6 degrees has declined by 1.1 degrees Fahrenheit finds a recent study.
The recent US study published online on eLIFE reveals that the average body temperature of the US population has declined to 97.9 degrees Fahrenheit.
In this article we will get in detail of the research and the possible cause of this decline.
History of body temperature
It was during the year 1851 when the temperature of 37°C or 98.6 °F was established as normal human body temperature by the German physician Carl Reinhold August Wunderlich.
He established this by obtained millions of axillary temperatures from 25,000 patients in Leipzig. However, recently, an analysis of more than 35,000 British patients with almost 250,000 temperature measurements, found mean oral temperature to be 36.6°C, confirming this lower value.
Is problem lies in the thermometer
To find out the answer, researchers compared three previous cohort study, and these studies were:
- Cohort 1: The Union Army Veterans of the Civil War, 1860–1940:- The study abstracted the Compiled Military Service Records, the Pension Records, Carded Medical Records, the Surgeons’ Certificates (detailed medical records) and information from the US Federal Census for a cluster sample of Union Army companies in the US Civil War.
- Cohort 2: The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES I): conducted between 1971 and 1975 in the US civilian population.
- Cohort 3: The Stanford Translational Research Integrated Database Environment (STRIDE): extracts electronic medical record information from patient encounters at Stanford Health Care
All the collected data were then reviewed by the team of Stanford researchers which conclude that over the past 150 years a steady cooling trend in American body temperatures has, indeed, occurred.
Modern & Improved quality of life is the reason
Heat or body temperature is a byproduct of metabolic processes. In modern day life, resting metabolic rate is the largest component of a human’s energy expenditure. A decline in metabolic rate is the reason for decline in body temperature.
There could be factors that can influence metabolic rate, change in the number of people suffering form various inflammation seems the most prominent explanation for the observed decrease in temperature over time.
Economic development, improved standards of living and sanitation, decreased chronic infections from war injuries, improved dental hygiene, the waning of tuberculosis and malaria infections, and the dawn of the antibiotic age together are likely to have decreased chronic inflammation since the 19th century.
Also read: Yoga has healing effect on brain structure: Study
Why does it matter
Human body temperature is very important for the well being of human, it affects our basal metabolic rate which, in turn, has been linked to both longevity (higher metabolic rate, shorter life span) and body size (lower metabolism, greater body mass).
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Dr Sunit Sanjay Ekka is a physiotherapist in practice for the last 15 years. He has done his BPT from one of the premium Central Government physiotherapy colleges, ie, SVNIRTAR. The patient is his best teacher and whatever he gets to learn he loves to share it on his Youtube channel and blog.
