Have you ever noticed that some people seem to be constantly cold or that they feel a draft, even in the summer? There are several explanations for this phenomenon.
What Is Body Temperature?
Temperature is controlled by your body’s hypothalamus, which interprets the information it receives from nerve receptors in the skin and changes its actions accordingly. The hypothalamus controls things such as sweating and shivering to keep the body’s internal temperature within a few degrees.
What Is a Normal Body Temperature?
Temperature ranges from 96.8 degrees Fahrenheit to 99.1 degrees Fahrenheit and averages around 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit.
The normal range for a body temperature is quite narrow; cold extremities or lack of perspiration can indicate that you have a fever or may be suffering from hypothermia.
What Causes Fever?
Common causes of fever include infections, the flu, and autoimmune diseases. A fever has many purposes: it can trigger your immune system’s defensive response to an illness by slowing or stopping functions that you don’t need at a time when your body needs all available resources to fight whatever is making you sick.
Your skin may feel warmer to the touch, but the fever itself is actually a symptom of your body’s attempt to cool down.
What Causes Hypothermia?
Hypothermia occurs when the core temperature drops below 95 degrees Fahrenheit. It can be mild, moderate, or severe.
Mild hypothermia affects mental functioning and coordination skills, while moderate hypothermia leads to disorientation and lack of coordination, lethargy, and drowsiness, and confusion. Severe hypothermia causes heart arrhythmias, weak pulse, low blood pressure, or even death.
Does Feeling Equal Body Temperature?
No. For example, there are people who feel cold all the time. The human body is constantly losing heat to the surrounding environment; sometimes, that person’s surroundings are just colder than others.
Another factor that can affect a person’s body temperature is vasoconstriction or narrowing of blood vessels, which reduces flow to the extremities. This contributes to feelings of coldness because there will be less heat generated in the hands and feet.
Learning about body temperature is key to understanding the best environment for people with different body types.