Body temperature can tell us a lot about our physical and mental health. extreme fatigue at work It can also physically somatize with fever. And of course, let’s not talk about the most common diseases like flu, cold…We have always had as a reference that our correct temperature is 36.6 degrees (or 36.5 to remember).
However, if we measure our temperature with the Apple Watch, and even with a Withings brand thermometer that I have at home, I rarely go above 36 degrees. Am I still sick? No, body temperature varies more than you might think, especially over the last century.
It was in the 19th century that body temperature was established at 36.6 degrees.
German physician Carl Reinhold August Wunderlich established the figure of 36.6 degrees as the reference for measuring a person’s body temperature. Since then, It’s been almost 200 years and several modern studies have questioned these degrees. Not because of a doctor’s mistake, but because of the evolution of society and our bodies.
A study by scientists at Stanford Medicine found that normal body temperature varies between all people. It depends on age, height, weight… and even fluctuates by about one degree during the day. This is well reflected by two examples taken from the said study:
The normal body temperature of a tall, underweight 80-year-old man in the morning is almost one degree lower than that of a short, obese 20-year-old woman in the afternoon.
A second study concludes that a decade-on-decade decrease in body temperature has been observed since the 19th century. This is due to a reduction in inflammation in the body, supported by an overall better quality of life. Heating, air conditioning, a more comfortable lifemore accessible food… All this influences a lower temperature since the body is more relaxed and without needing to expend energy to maintain a constant body temperature.
According to the Apple Watch, my temperature is around 36 degrees
Half a degree less “than usual”. I’m 28, I do sports… Now everything suits me. My Apple Watch and the Withings thermometer
Yes, I noticed an increase in temperature when I slept less or was sick. So the important thing is to know our own averagerather than focusing on a reference temperature obtained 200 years ago. Of course, if we have doubts about whether something is wrong, it is better to go to a professional. But having a stable and continuous measurement of our temperature thanks to the Apple Watch is also very useful.
In Applesfera | The best Apple Watch to buy (2024): all the smartwatches in the Apple catalog and their features
In Applesfera | iPhone 16: release date, price, models and everything we think we know about them