Every branch of science has its constants. Physics has the speed of light, the gravitational constant, the Planck constant. Chemistry gives us Avogadro’s number, Faraday’s constant, the charge of an electron. Medicine isn’t quite as reliable as physics when it comes to these things, but insofar as there are any constants in Medicine, might I suggest normal body temperature. Thirty-seven degrees Celsius, 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit.

Sure, the serum sodium may be less variable, the lactate concentration more clinically relevant, but even my seven-year-old knows that normal body temperature is 98.6 degrees.

Except, as it turns out. 98.6 degrees isn’t normal at all.


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