Big medical news, folks - 98.6 isn't normal. Well, it hasn't been MY normal for a long, LONG time! My personal normal hovers around 97.1, so when I go to the doctor and they say my temperature is "normal," I tell them I have a 1.5-degree fever. I usually get odd looks.
Yes, I know. It's not just my temperature that makes people look at me strangely.
Anyway, a new study of body temperature records reveals the temperature of the average American man has dropped 0.6 degrees centigrade (a little less than 1.1 degrees Fahrenheit) since 1860. Earlier studies had already recognized the "new normal," blaming the difference on faulty thermometers. But more recent research concludes the original number, established in 1850, was correct, and American body temperature has gradually dropped over a span of 150 years.
The reason for the drop? Maybe it comes from lower "overall levels of inflammation" (that oh so trendy bugbear of health), or because of antibiotics, vaccines, improved food and water quality, and central heating and air conditioning. Here's the article I saw, published last month.
Fascinating!
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