Body temperature

Body temperature is the temperature of the human body, shaped by heat production, heat loss, health, and surroundings. It varies across body sites, individuals, and times of day.

Thermoregulation: The control of body temperature through adjustments in heat production and heat exchange. It explains how body temperature is regulated despite changing activity and surroundings.
Normal human body temperature: The range of body temperatures commonly observed in healthy people, varying with measurement site and conditions. It provides context for judging whether a particular body-temperature reading is unusual.
Heat exhaustion: A heat-related illness caused by fluid and salt loss and impaired heat tolerance. It can develop during heat exposure before body temperature reaches levels typical of heatstroke.
Fever: A regulated rise in body temperature, usually caused by infection or inflammation. Unlike environmental overheating, fever raises the body's temperature-regulating set point.
Hypothalamus: A brain region that integrates internal signals and helps regulate temperature, hunger, thirst, and other functions. It coordinates many of the body's responses when temperature departs from its regulated range.
Temperature measurement: The determination of how hot or cold a system is using a defined scale and method. Different instruments and measurement sites can yield different body-temperature readings.
Heatstroke: A life-threatening heat illness involving severe hyperthermia and central nervous system dysfunction. Uncontrolled temperature elevation can rapidly damage the brain and other organs.
Hyperthermia: An abnormal rise in body temperature when heat gain exceeds heat loss, without a raised regulatory set point. It raises temperature without the set-point change that defines fever.
Sweating: The release of sweat onto the skin, where evaporation can remove heat. Evaporation from sweat is a major way people lose heat in warm conditions.
Axillary temperature: A temperature measured in the armpit, often used as a noninvasive estimate of body temperature. Armpit readings can differ from measurements taken at other body sites.

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