The weather is hot and humid all around, and even rain does little to ease the heat. Sweating heavily is uncomfortable: step outside and your clothes are soaked. It may seem a nuisance, but by releasing heat through sweat your body is protecting itself from the harmful effects of dangerous temperatures.

The sweat glands hidden at the roots of the pores quietly keep the body's temperature in balance. Physical exertion and exercise, fever, pain and anxiety also stimulate the body's sympathetic nervous system and produce a lot of sweat. All of this is normal physiology. But sudden excessive sweating can also be a symptom of a problem or disease.

Women sweat more during pregnancy. After menstruation stops, women may suddenly feel overheated and sweat, sometimes with palpitations. This particular problem is called a hot flush. If it does not settle by itself, hormone therapy may be needed. Thyroid or growth hormone disorders can cause heavy sweating. Tuberculosis patients also sweat at night, and some medicines can cause sweating as a side-effect.

Diabetic patients taking medicine or insulin may sweat if their blood sugar suddenly falls, together with palpitations, restlessness, dizziness, blurred vision or confused speech. This is a danger sign. Taking sugared water or something sweet at once can avert the danger.

Sweating with pressure or pain in the chest can also be a sign of a heart attack. Watch whether you are sweating excessively at night or more on one side only; whether there is chest pain, palpitations, cough, fever or other symptoms; and, for a diabetic patient, whether a meal has been badly delayed.

If a child's head sweats during a cold and cough and the breathing rate rises, it may be a warning sign of heart failure. In adults too, a sweating head with chest pain, or pain spreading to the neck or arm, is not a good sign. In such cases a cardiologist should be consulted.

Source: Samakal. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.