The Wall Street Journal: Modern studies suggest the ‘normal’ body temperature of 98.6° is a degree too high

In one new study, researchers at Stanford argue that Carl Reinhold August Wunderlich’s number, which he arrived at a century and a half ago, was correct at the time but is no longer accurate because the human body has changed. Read More...

Nearly 150 years ago, a German physician analyzed a million temperatures from 25,000 patients and concluded that normal human-body temperature is 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit.

That standard has been published in numerous medical texts and helped generations of parents judge the gravity of a child’s illness.

But at least two dozen modern studies have concluded the number is too high.

The findings have prompted speculation that the pioneering analysis published in 1869 by Carl Reinhold August Wunderlich was flawed.

Or was it?

In a new study, researchers from Stanford University argue that Wunderlich’s number was correct at the time but is no longer accurate because the human body has changed.

Today, they say, the average normal human-body temperature is closer to 97.5 degrees Fahrenheit.

An expanded version of this report appears at WSJ.com.

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