in 2020, confirmed that over the past century and a half, the average body temperature has indeed dropped to 97.5 degrees — more than a degree lower than it was in 1860. This finding held, even when researchers allowed for changes in thermometry methods and technologies.
Speaking of fiddling with the heat, being able to keep our homes and buildings in a comfortable range of temperatures may also have had an effect. Our bodies don’t have to work as hard to stay warm or cool, and that, too, may have helped lower the metabolic rate, the authors say.The trend is clear: On average, body temperature is decreasing. But many things, such as time of day, gender and age affect body temperature, making it impossible to pinpoint an exact number and call it “normal.
Aimalohi Ahonkhai, an infectious disease scientist and clinician at Vanderbilt University Institute for Global Health, says patients should keep in mind that temperature is just one piece of information a physician takes into consideration when evaluating a patient. “I’m more concerned with how people are feeling,” she says. “If you have data about what your temperature has been, your doctor can interpret that in the context of your symptoms.
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