Researchers from the Stanford University School of Medicine evaluated the body temperature measurement of 677 thousand 423 people as part of their study in the USA.
The researchers examined the body temperature records of first-time American Civil War veterans from 1862 to 1930, secondly to the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 1971 to 1975, and finally adult patients who came to Stanford Healthcare in 2007 to 2017.
According to the results obtained by cross-checking the records in question, it was concluded that the body temperature of men who were born in the 21st century was 0.6 degrees lower than those who were born in the 19th century and women were 0.03 degrees lower than their fathers born in the 1890s.
Professor Julie Parsonnet at Stanford, who led the research team, tried to find out what caused this temperature drop in the human body by comparing old data with new measurements.
Parsonnet pointed out that the living environment, including physiological change, the temperature of the houses, the contact with microorganisms and the food consumed, has changed.
Pointing out that there are many factors that affect body temperature, the researchers did not find it necessary to update the average body temperature for daily purposes.
Researchers attributed this decline to reasons such as a decrease in metabolic rate due to environmental factors, improvements in public health over 200 years, a decrease in inflammatory cases that improve metabolism, as well as high standards of living that the body does not need to work hard to keep warm.
After German Doctor Carl Reinhold August Wunderlich defined the average body temperature as 37 degrees in 1851, this temperature was accepted as the main indicator.
The results of the research have been published in eLife magazine.
