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Taking Your Temperature?
Lay Off The Snacking
A new nurses' study finds
that prior drinking and eating can alter body temperature readings
gleaned from an oral thermometer.
On average, a person who drinks a cold beverage takes about
15 minutes to return to their baseline temperature, while the
return to baseline takes about 23 minutes after someone has had
a hot beverage, the study found.
"Taking an accurate temperature is one of the most basic, yet
at times complicated, pieces of data we can collect to monitor
our health and the health of our loved ones," research project
coordinator Beth Quatrara, of the University of Virginia Health
System, said in a prepared statement.
Her team recommends that folks refrain from eating and drinking
in the minutes before taking their temperature.
To obtain the most accurate reading, people having their temperature
taken should also refrain from activities that may change mouth
or body temperature, such as exercise, chewing gum or smoking.
These rules aren't only for health workers and patients, but
also for people tending to sick loved ones at home.
The findings were presented at the recent annual meeting of
the Academy of Medical Surgical Nurses.
The Nemours Foundation has more about taking
your child's temperature .
SOURCE: University of Virginia Health System, news release,
Jan. 17, 2006
Reference
Source 62
January
28,
2006
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