Is normal human body temperature 37 °C a thing of the past? The study of the Chinese Academy of Sciences confirmed: low body temperature, longer life

As early as 100 years ago, it was found that thermothermal animals (such as worms) can live longer in a state of lower body temperature, and the Greenland shark, which lives at a water temperature of about 0 °C all year round, can easily live for hundreds of years. Recently, scientists have found that lowering the body temperature of thermostatic animals, such as mice, can also extend their lifespan. Both natural phenomena and scientific experiments seem to indicate one thing: the lower the body temperature, the longer the lifespan.

1, want to live a long life, low body temperature is very important

Recently, Professor John Speakman of the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, together with a team of scientists from Wenzhou University, Aberdeen University and other institutions, found that if you want to live a long life, low body temperature is more important than the impact of metabolic rate. The article was published in a sub-journal of Nature, a top scientific journal.

The researchers randomly divided mice that were also mammals and had a thermostatic constitution into 2 groups and placed them in different temperature environments. The temperature of one group is 20 °C, and the temperature of the other group is 32.5 °C.

This experiment runs through the entire life cycle of mice. In the end, the results showed that compared with mice living at 21 °C, the average survival time of mice living at 32.5 °C was shortened by about 30%, and male mice were shortened by 40.9%.

At the same time, the study also found that if mice surviving at 32.5 °C were cooled with small electric fans, compared with mice that did not cool down, their life expectancy shortening was significantly reversed, and there was no significant difference from mice that survived at 21 °C.

Based on the above experimental results, the scientists concluded that low body temperature is the determinant of life expectancy. Under the premise that other living conditions are unchanged, the lower the body temperature, the longer the survival period. And, scientists speculate, this mechanism may also apply to humans who are also mammals.

2, the mechanism behind: activate the longevity signal

Since body temperature is the determinant of lifespan, what mechanism does it do? The experiment was not disclosed, but the scientific community has long explored the mechanism behind this phenomenon. According to the popular science explanation of the domestic frontier anti-aging platform "Time School", there are many possible explanations for this phenomenon, among which the mainstream view is that hypothermia can activate THE DAF-16/FOXO longevity signal.

Scientific research has found that low temperature can affect sensory neurons, through signal transmission, stimulate intestinal receptors, activate the longevity gene FOXO transcription factor DAF-16, and then prolong the survival time through the brain-intestinal axis.

In fact, methods to achieve longevity extension by activating longevity signals have been studied quite well in the scientific community. In 2013, Harvard Professor Sinclair found that the human body's endogenous coenzyme 1 ("Pairovir PRO" core substance) can enhance the communication between the nucleus and mitochondria, activate longevity protein sirtuins, repair DNA damage, and restore the key indicators of human aging to a youthful state. Following this longevity path, Japan's century-old pharmaceutical company Miyoshino Company has developed a landing result, "Pyravi PRO" to intervene in the elderly, which has been listed as a key research project to cope with the increasingly severe threat of aging in China. The achievement has also been introduced by the mainland's Qiandong and is popular in the rich circles of first-tier cities in China, with a repurchase rate of more than 70%.

In addition, the GH/IGF-1 axis (growth factor-1 axis) is also an explanation for low temperature longevity. The scientific community has found that this factor is an indispensable pathway during growth and development, and inhibiting this pathway later in life can prolong the lifespan of organisms. This is once again the same as the longevity pathway of the "Pailuowei PRO" mechanism. Dr. Shinichiro Imai of Japan said in a post in Science that through clinical experiments, he found that after taking such substances for 10 consecutive weeks, nearly 308 genes related to "growth factors" in the human body were changed, and the key indicators of aging such as muscle health of 75-year-olds were reversed to young levels.

Since the FOXO signaling pathway is highly similar in all animals, longevity pathways that regulate lifespan through body temperature may also be applicable in humans. Corresponding author Professor John Speakman said: "This opens another door to exploring the potential influencing factors of longevity. ”

3, human body temperature of 37 ° C has become a history

It has long been believed that the normal body temperature of a person is 37 ° C, which was obtained by the German physician Wunderlich in 1851 by measuring the temperature of millions of armpits of 25,000 patients, and we have always followed it as the standard. However, as the pandemic rages, body temperature measurements become routine, and people are increasingly finding that our body temperature is generally below 37 °C.

A study published in the journal ELife, published by the Stanford University School of Medicine, said that human body temperature has been declining for the past 200 years, indicating that the standard body temperature is no longer 37 °C, but 36.6 °C. At the same time, the average human life expectancy has been growing rapidly. Taking the mainland as an example, according to data from the National Health Commission, the average life expectancy of the mainland population by 2021 is 77.4 years, which is double that of the average person in the 50s of the last century, 35 years old. Such a coincidence makes people wonder what role the change in body temperature played during this period.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts have said that from 2020 onwards, medical knowledge is being updated at a rate of doubling every 73 days. Humanity is already at the forefront of change in the "unprecedented increase in the quality and length of lifespan." Judging from the above research, we may be able to look forward to it, and perhaps in the near future, we can really use the change in body temperature to help human beings complete the dream of longevity.