98.6 Degrees Fahrenheit Ideal Temperature for Keeping Fungi Away and Food at Bay

[TZ]

ScienceDaily (Dec. 22, 2010) — Two researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have found that our 98.6° F (37° C) body temperature strikes a perfect balance: warm enough to ward off fungal infection but not so hot that we need to eat nonstop to maintain our metabolism.


"One of the mysteries about humans and other advanced mammals has been why they are so hot compared with other animals," said study co-author Arturo Casadevall, M.D., Ph.D., professor and chair of microbiology & immunology at Einstein. "This study helps to explain why mammalian temperatures are all around 37° C." Dr. Casadevall also holds the Leo and Julia Forchheimer Chair in Microbiology and Immunology.

The research builds upon earlier work by Dr. Casadevall showing that the number of fungal species that can thrive and therefore infect an animal declines by 6 percent for every 1° C rise in temperature. This means that tens of thousands of fungal species infect reptiles, amphibians and other cold-blooded animals, but only a few hundred harm mammals. Such protection against fungal infection, Dr. Casadevall has speculated, could have been crucial for the triumph of mammals following the age of dinosaurs.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101222121610.htm
Interesting paper. Also, a nice illustration of how natural selection and evolution works.

[LaurenG]

1. We have adapted to our planet well.

Thank goodness, I'd hate to be a fungi incubator. :P

[BanzaiBonnie]

2. Yikes, I might be in trouble...

My average temperature is 97.4. Always has been. Once when I was doing a study of my own average temp. by measuring it three times a day for one month, I had one morning temp of 95.4. I was so tired I had to lie down until I warmed up.

This might be a problem... or not. I've always had cold hands and feet. If I keep my feet warm I'm good to go.

[AlecBGreen]

3. interesting!

I run a little hot. 99.0 seems to be my base temp. I have always had a fast metabolism - I dont put on weight unless I really try to cram in food. My wife loves it cause I heat the bed very quickly during the winter :)

[TZ]

4. I'm about the same.

I go to the doctor on a regular basis and I'm almost always 97.6...I also suffer occasionally from atheletes foot so perhaps there is something too this....hmmm...

[Viva_La_Revolution]

6. Have you had your thyroid checked?

I have the same problems.. I've been taking kelp in the morning, and that seems to help.

[BanzaiBonnie]

9. Yes, it reads as "normal"

I'm going to try kelp. Thanks.

[miyazaki]

7. Try wearing a "haramaki". I swear by em'.

Some of the older peeps in Japan wear them throughout the year, including
the summer to help better regulate body temperature.

[kestrel91316]

5. Mammals don't all have the same temps, lol. Elephants have a relatively

low body temp, and cats run 100F-103F, depending on ambient temps and activity/stress level. Even humans have a range of normal temps: I have never run 98.6F. My normal is more like 98.0F or even less.

[Codeine]

8. I'll remember that the next time I get ringworm. nt

[caraher]

10. "98.6 F" is a case of false precision - and is the wrong number anyway

If you normally check in at, say, 99.0 F or 98.0 F, that's certainly "normal." There's this weird obsession with hitting "normal" to 3 significant digits all because nobody wants to round properly.

The guy who first determined "normal" body temperature found a value of 37 Celcius - not 37.0 Celcius. But for some reason, people universally retain one digit past the decimal point in quoting the value in Fahrenheit, which is really just silly. You should really think of normal as a much wider range, that varies with age and gender... and note that http://www.welchallyn.com/documents/Thermometry/Electronic%20Thermometry/SureTemp%20690/normalbodytempchart_20070323_suretempplus.pdf">there's a difference in normal by method of measurement as well. (For instance, using an oral thermometer the "normal" range is really something more like 97.6-99.6 F for most adults.)

If you really want to go 3 sig figs, modern work suggests 98.2 F is a much more appropriate value to use.

For more discussion than you could ever want see the Physics Factbook page on the subject.