Why do we sweat? Hot facts on perspiring

Why we sweat
The process of sweating is the body’s natural cooling system. When your body heats up through exercise, outside temperature, certain foods, stress or fever, your brain responds by pumping liquid through two to four million little holes called eccrine glands . This liquid is 99 per cent water and one per cent salt and fat . When that sweat evaporates off the surface of your skin, your body cools down.

Eccrine glands are found over almost the entire surface of the body and produce the most sweat of the two main types of sweat glands . The other type, apocrine glands, are found in the armpits and groin and have more to do with scent and pheromone production than regular sweat.

Pure sweat from either gland is odourless, but when the sweat secreted by apocrine glands is released, it mixes with bacteria on the surface of the skin — giving off a bad smell.

Sweating that occurs when we are nervous, stressed or emotional is also the work of the apocrine sweat glands. In those situations, we sweat in preparation for a challenge or fight, not for the purpose of temperature control. Sweating can also be triggered by certain foods, such those that are spicy foods or caffeine which ‘trick’ the body into thinking its internal temperature is rising, triggering sweat production.

Sweat-related health conditions
The two main conditions commonly associated with sweat glands are hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating) and anhidrosis or hypohydrosis (not sweating enough).

“Patients affected by this condition could just be sweating for no reason when other people in the same environment, same conditions, do not,” Dr. Youwen Zhou, a dermatology professor at the University of British Columbia, told Global News . The Canadian Dermatology Association estimates around three per cent of Canadians, or about 950,000 people, have hyperhidrosis.

Hyperhidrosis can show up as one of two types . Focal hyperhidrosis is genetic and usually affects the hands, feet, head and armpits while generalized hyperhidrosis (far more common) is often a sign of another underlying health issue. According to the Canadian Dermatology Association , menopause, obesity, endocrine disorders and nerve damage can all cause generalized hyperhidrosis. Using some prescription drugs can also result in hyperhidrosis.

According to the Mayo Clinic , anhidrosis can be genetic, like Fabry’s disease,  or the result of underdeveloped sweat glands, connective tissue disorders, like Sjogren’s syndrome , skin conditions (such as burns or clogged ducts), diabetes, alcoholism and Guillain-Barre syndrome. Anhidrosis can also be a sign of dehydration, heat stroke or heat exhaustion. A lack of sweating — and therefore temperature control — can be life threatening in these situations.

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Why do we sweat? Hot facts on perspiring

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