Beyond fever: Core body temperature as a biomarker of healthy longevity in the BLSA

Authors

• EM Simonsick
• SA Studenski
• L Ferrucci

Abstract

Scattered evidence indicates that a lower core body temperature may be consistent with prolonged life span. Core body temperature declines in all species in response to caloric restriction and studies of transgenic mice have found a lower core body temperature offers longevity benefits independent of caloric restriction. A few studies have investigated low core temperature as part of a complex of traits including lower metabolic rate comprising an obesity-prone phenotype, a major threat to health and longevity, but none have evaluated the longevity promotion potential of lower core temperature in the absence of excessive adiposity. Using data on 813 men and women aged 60 to 89 participating in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA), we examined the association between normal body temperature (95.0 to 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit) measured in a resting, fasted state upon awakening and health indicators, including usual gait speed and endurance walk performance. Overall, the beta associated with body temperature was -0.039 (p=0.008) for usual gait speed (m/s) and 10.34 (p=0.001) for seconds needed to walk 400m as quickly as possible independent of age, race, sex, exercise level and excessive adiposity (BMI > 35 or waist-height ratio > .65). In analyses stratified by excessive adiposity, the core temperature association was evident in only the 740 non-obese with respective betas of -0.042 (p=0.006) and 11.46 (p

Scientific Focus Area: Epidemiology

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