Normal Body Temperature

Your body has an internal thermostat and your goal is to keep your temperature as close to your goal as possible. The stability of that number, known as your core body temperature, reflects your body’s ability to heat up or cool things down to stay within your ideal range.

That is certainly what we were all taught, and it is the correct answer on a test. I know it sounds crazy, but 98.6˚ F may not, in fact, represent the best estimate of normal body temperature. Not only that, but the normal human temperature may be dropping over time.

Each day, your body has plans to adjust its temperature to follow your circadian rhythm by warming it up to start the day and cooling down to sleep. However, diet, exercise, hormones, and many other things affect your temperature. As a result, your body constantly makes adjustments to keep everything balanced.

Normal Body Temperature
Normal Body Temperature

Whats the normal body temperature?

Normal body temperature is considered to be 37 ° C (98.6 ° F); however, a wide variation is observed. Among normal people, the average daily temperature can differ by 0.5 ° C (0.9 ° F) and the daily variations can be as much as 0.25 to 0.5 ° C.

The lowest point in body temperature usually occurs around 4 a.m. and the peak around 6 p.m. This rhythm, or the natural cycle of physical changes, is fairly constant for an individual and is not affected by periods of fever or hypothermia. The prolonged switch to daytime sleep and night wake cycles will effect an adaptive correction in the daily temperature rhythm.

Normal rectal temperature is usually 0.27 ° to 0.38 ° C (0.5 ° to 0.7 ° F) higher than an oral temperature. The axillary temperature is approximately 0.55 ° C (1.0 ° F) lower than the oral temperature.

Normal Body Temperature
Normal Body Temperature

What is considered a fever?

Fever is when the body temperature is 38 ° C (100 ° F) or higher. Fever means that the body temperature is higher than normal. Fever often means you have an infection, but other conditions can also cause a fever without any infection.

If you have a fever over 100 ° F (38 ° C), it usually means you have an infection. Fever can help you fight illness. Fever can also occur after you have received a vaccine.

Fever is really good because it helps the body eliminate bacteria and viruses. Only body temperatures above 108 Fahrenheit can cause brain damage and this level of body temperature can only be reached in extreme ambient temperatures.

Normal temperature of human body

The normal temperature of the human body is a concept that depends on the place in the body where the measurement is made, the time of day and the level of activity of the person. There is no single number that represents a normal or healthy temperature for all people in all circumstances using any measurement site.

Different parts of the body have different temperatures. Measurements taken directly within the body cavity are usually slightly higher than oral measurements, and oral measurements are somewhat higher than skin temperature.

  • The commonly accepted average core body temperature (taken internally) is 37.0 ° C (98.6 ° F).
  • The typical oral measurement (under the tongue) is slightly cooler, at 36.8 ± 0.7 ° C, or 98.2 ± 1.3 ° F.
  • For the axillary measurement, the value commonly quoted is 36.6 ° C (97.9 ° F).

Although some people think that these numbers represent normal temperatures, a wide range of temperatures has been found in healthy people.

  • In samples from normal adult men and women, the observed range for oral temperature is 33.2 to 38.2 ° C (92 to 101 ° F).
  • For the rectum it is 34.4 to 37.8 ° C (94 to 100 ° F)
  • For the tympanic cavity it is 35.4 to 37.8 ° C (96 to 100 ° F) and
  • For the axilla it is 35.5 to 37.0 ° C (96 to 99 ° F).

The time of day and other circumstances also affects the body’s temperature. The core body temperature of an individual tends to have the lowest value in the second half of the sleep cycle; the lowest point, called the nadir, is one of the primary markers for circadian rhythms.

The body temperature also changes when a person is hungry, sleepy, or cold.

What is the normal body temperature in fahrenheit?

For a typical adult, the human body temperature in degrees Fahrenheit is:

Normal body temperature = 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit

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