Is 98.6 still the 'normal' body temperature? Woman with fever sparks viral debate
There are a few reasons why we should be aiming lower.
Is everything we learned in elementary school wrong?!
Ask anyone what the "normal" human body temperature is, and you’ll likely get the same answer—98.6. That’s the number we were told in elementary school, and that’s the number we’ve been running with ever since. Except, many of us begin to feel icky at much lower temperatures, so should 98.6 still be the golden standard? Where did this number even come from?
These were the questions that suddenly took up real estate in a woman named Jenna’s brain while she was ill last January. As she explained in a clip posted to TikTok (from bed, clearly sick as a dog, I might add) she was feeling “horrible” with a temperature of only 99.1.
Jenna’s confusion led her to doing a bit of research where she discovered that the “average” number of 98.6 came from a study done way back in 1860. The study she referred to was conducted by German physician Carl Reinhold August Wunderlich, who measured the armpit temperatures of around 25,000 people and calculated the average to be 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit.
@jennjenbean Anyone else feel like their face is burning and they are just feeling icky when their temperature is in the 90s and below 100°?
♬ original sound - Jenna
Wunderlich’s mean body temperature has since been dubbed “not flawed,” but outdated by Julie Parsonnet, who led a newer study at Stanford Medicine that found normal body temperature actually ranged from 97.3°F and 98.2°F, suggesting that 98.6 is now too high.
As Jenna also cited in her video, Parsonnet and the other researchers at Stanford surmise that this drop could be due to a variety of factors, such as advances in medical treatments (for example, in the 1860s, many people had chronic infections that couldn’t be treated, which would have affected temperatures) better hygiene, greater availability of food, and improved living standards, etc. But the major contribution seems to be that inflammation levels are lower, which would rev up metabolism and, subsequently, body temperature.
Honestly, it’s no wonder that Jenna—and others who watched her video—had much lower thresholds. As one viewer commented, “My normal is 97.6. If I get to 99 I definitely feel sick, anything over 100 and I can’t get out of bed.”
Another echoed, “I’m usually around 96 something, so 98 is a fever for me.”
Perhaps the biggest takeaway here is that there’s barely a “standard” at all. Sex, age, weight, height, and time of day all determine what’s considered "normal." And if you’re curious what your personal normal temperature is, Parsonnet created a nifty calculator found here.
This is also a case for really knowing your own body. Sure, a fever is still a telltale sign of illness, but since you can be sick without having a high temperature, it’s important to note what symptoms you’re experiencing, and, of course, to consult a doctor if you think something isn't right.
Even the most sound prevailing wisdom might lose its efficacy over time. After all, the world constantly changes, and we change along with it. This is just one of those things where what was taught to us as kids doesn't necessarily apply anymore. And while this might not be the hottest trivia to pull out at parties, it’s still interesting to know how times have indeed changed.
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