• Vital signs are basic component of assessment of physiological and psychological health of a person.
• The traditional vital signs are body temperature, pulse, respirations, and blood pressure.
In modern science, fifth vital sign is added. It is pain assessment.
Vital signs are checked to monitor the functions of the body. The signs reflect changes in function that otherwise might not be observed.
The first vital signs is :-
Body Temperature 🌡️
• Body temperature reflects the balance between the heat produced and the heat lost from the body.
It is measured in heat units called degrees.
There are two kinds of body temperature:
1. Core temperature
2. Surface temperature.
1. Core temperature :- It is the temperature of the deep tissues of the body, such as the abdominal cavity and pelvic cavity. It remains relatively constant.
The normal core body temperature is from 97°F (36.1°C) to 99°F (37.2°C).
2.Surface temperature:- It is the temperature of the skin, the subcutaneous tissue,
and fat. It, by contrast, rises and falls in response to the environment.
The body continually produces heat as a by-product of metabolism. When the amount of heat produced by the body equals the amount of heat lost, the person is in heat balance.
Factors affecting Body Temperature :-
There are mainly five factors which continously affect our body temperature.
These are as follows:-
1. Basal metabolic rate :- The basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the rate of energy utilization in the body required to maintain essential activities such as breathing.
Metabolic rates decrease with age. In general, the younger the person, the higher the BMR.
2. Muscle activity :- Muscle activity, including shivering, increases the metabolic rate.
3. Thyroxine output :- Increased thyroxine output increases the rate of cellular metabolism throughout the body.
4. Epinephrine, norepinephrine, and sympathetic stimulation/ stress response. These hormones immediately increase the rate of cellular metabolism in many body tissues.
5. Fever :-Fever increases the cellular metabolic rate and thus increases the body’s temperature further.
Heat is lost from the body through :-
1. Radiation
2.Conduction
3.Convection and evaporation
1.Radiation :- It is the transfer of heat from the surface of one object to the surface of another without contact between the two objects, mostly in the form of infrared rays.
2.Conduction :- It is the transfer of heat from one molecule to a molecule.
Conductive transfer cannot take place without contact between the molecules and normally accounts for minimal heat loss.
Except, for example, when a body is immersed in cold water. The amount of heat transferred depends on the temperature difference and the amount and duration of the contact.
3.Convection :- It is the dispersion of heat by air currents. The body
usually has a small amount of warm air adjacent to it. This warm air rises and is replaced by cooler air, so people always lose a small amount of heat through convection.
Evaporation is continuous vaporization of moisture from the
respiratory tract and from the mucosa of the mouth and from the skin.
This continuous and unnoticed water loss is called insensible water loss, and the accompanying heat loss is called insensible heat loss.
Insensible heat loss accounts for about 10% of basal heat loss.
When the body temperature increases, vaporization accounts for greater heat loss.
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