Faculty Opinions recommendation of Decreasing human body temperature in the United States since the industrial revolution.

ABSTRACTIn the US, the normal, oral temperature of adults is, on average, lower than the canonical 37°C established in the 19th century. We postulated that body temperature has decreased over time. Using measurements from three cohorts--the Union Army Veterans of the Civil War (N=23,710; measurement years 1860-1940), the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey I (N=15,301; 1971-1975), and the Stanford Translational Research Integrated Database Environment (N=150,280; 2007-2017)--we determined that mean body temperature in men and women, after adjusting for age, height, weight and, in some models date and time of day, has decreased monotonically by 0.03°C per birth decade. A similar decline within the Union Army cohort as between cohorts, makes measurement error an unlikely explanation. This substantive and continuing shift in body temperature—a marker for metabolic rate—provides a framework for understanding changes in body habitus and human longevity over the last 200 years.

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The Physiological Consequences of Hypovitaminosis D

Journal of Student Research ◽

10.47611/jsr.v7i1.406 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

pp. 16-21

Author(s):

Jee Young Yoo ◽

Lauren Goodwyn

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Vitamin D ◽

Human Body ◽

Inverse Relationship ◽

Industrial Revolution ◽

Large Fraction ◽

Hypovitaminosis D ◽

The United States ◽

Modern Technology ◽

Chemical Form

During the industrial revolution in the United States, speculations arose surrounding ultraviolet radiation and its inverse relationship to the alarmingly increasing prevalence of rickets, a bone disease in children that we now know is caused by a lack of vitamin D. However, prior to the 20th century, it was nearly impossible to simply identify biological forms of vitamins or hormones (Holick, 2010). It was inconceivable to set forth a list of dietary essentials and their roles in the human body. With the aid of modern technology, the ability to ascertain vitamin D’s chemical form and origins became a reality. Today, a large fraction of the field of endocrine research aims to find links between vitamin D and diseases. The purpose of this paper is to list some of the associated ailments that transpire alongside inadequate levels of vitamin D, and in turn, emphasize the importance of supplementation to prevent such occurrences.

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Decreasing human body temperature in the United States since the Industrial Revolution

eLife ◽

10.7554/elife.49555 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Myroslava Protsiv ◽

Catherine Ley ◽

Joanna Lankester ◽

Trevor Hastie ◽

Julie Parsonnet

Keyword(s):

Body Temperature ◽

Industrial Revolution ◽

The United States ◽

Time Of Day ◽

Union Army ◽

Oral Temperature ◽

Mean Body Temperature ◽

Health And Nutrition ◽

The Us ◽

Human Body Temperature

In the US, the normal, oral temperature of adults is, on average, lower than the canonical 37°C established in the 19th century. We postulated that body temperature has decreased over time. Using measurements from three cohorts—the Union Army Veterans of the Civil War (N = 23,710; measurement years 1860–1940), the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey I (N = 15,301; 1971–1975), and the Stanford Translational Research Integrated Database Environment (N = 150,280; 2007–2017)—we determined that mean body temperature in men and women, after adjusting for age, height, weight and, in some models date and time of day, has decreased monotonically by 0.03°C per birth decade. A similar decline within the Union Army cohort as between cohorts, makes measurement error an unlikely explanation. This substantive and continuing shift in body temperature—a marker for metabolic rate—provides a framework for understanding changes in human health and longevity over 157 years.

Download Full-text