For 150 years, 98.6°F (37°C) has been considered “normal” human body temperature. But recently, Stanford University researchers analyzed some 677,000 temperature readings collected from nearly 190,000 people, from 1862 to 2017, and found that they fell by 0.054°F and 0.052°F per decade for men and women, respectively, in those years.
Changes in average height and weight could explain some of the decline, says Julie Parsonnet, a Stanford professor and lead author of the study. And today, she adds, “we have better nutrition, medical care and public health.” But perhaps most important, antibiotics and vaccines can control many of the inflammatory conditions that can drive up body temperature. Plus, she says, if we do get sick, “we conquered general inflammation with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and statins,” which frees the body…