Sweating is one part of puberty. When your body starts to change, your 3 million sweat glands become more active. At the same time, glands in your armpits and groin and on the palms of your hands and soles of your feet produce oilier sweat, which has an adult odor. Sweating plays an important role in the body because it helps maintain body temperature by cooling you down. When you're hot and you sweat, that moisture evaporates and cools you off a bit.
Sweat, also called perspiration, is a salty liquid produced by the sweat glands.How much you sweat depends on how many sweat glands you have. A person is born with about two to four million sweat glands.Women actually have more sweat glands then men -- the men's glands are just more active.
Hence, in hot weather, or when the individual's muscles heat up due to exertion, more sweat is produced. Sweating is increased by nervousness and nausea and decreased by cold.If sweating is accompanied by fever, weight loss, chest pain, shortness of breath, or a rapid, pounding heartbeat, talk to a doctor. These symptoms may indicate an underlying problem, such as hyperthyroidism .Hyperhidrosis is a medical condition in which a person sweats excessively and unpredictably. People with hyperhidrosis can sweat even when the temperature is cool, and when they are at rest. Excessive sweating may also be a symptom of menopause .
Sitting in the heat of the sun, working out at the gym, giving a presentation at work — all of these activities can make you sweat. It's both natural and healthy to sweat under these conditions. In fact, when you're exposed to heat, strenuous exercise or extreme emotional stress, you may lose several quarts of fluid in perspiration.Although perspiration is practically odorless, it can take on an unpleasant smell when it comes into contact with bacteria on your skin. If you find this offensive, you're not alone — Americans spend hundreds of millions of dollars a year on antiperspirants and deodorants.
Women with clammy handshakes are twice as likely to seek medical attention as men with sweaty palms, according to a new U.S. study.
Researchers from the Saint Louis University School of Medicine, Missouri, studied the records of 515 patients who sought treatment for excessive sweating and found about 67 percent of those seeking help were women.
Dr. Dee Anna Glaser told the 65th annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology that men were significantly more likely to seek treatment for facial sweating while women were more likely to seek help for excessive underarm sweating.
"Although the prevalence is the same for men and women, (this) study finds that women sought treatment much more frequently than men," said Glaser in a statement.
She said about three percent of the U.S. population, or about 7.8 million people, suffered from primary hyperhidrosis, an excessive sweating disorder with no known cause, which most commonly affects the palms, soles, underarms, face and scalp.
Glaser said an overwhelming majority of patients rated their condition at the top of a four point scale, describing it as intolerable and always interfering with their daily activities.
In addition, patients reported that stress, anxiety, heat and exercise were the most common aggravating factors.
Two factors that seemed to accompany hyperhidrosis were family history, with 30 percent to 65 percent of patients having a family history of the condition, and the age range of the first symptoms.
"If left untreated, hyperhidrosis can really inhibit the way people live their lives," added Glaser.
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