What do night sweats mean?
Night sweats can affect both men and women, adults or children. We deepen in this type of sweating to know what it is and what are its causes. Then we answer the question, What do night sweats mean?
What are night sweats?
Sweating is a natural and normal reaction of the body that allows us to regulate body temperature.
It is understood as night sweats a climb of sudden heat that causes a significant increase in sweating during hours of sleep . This causes that it can get wet or even soak the pajamas or sheets, which can cause one not to rest properly or wake up.
Night sweating is a normal reaction only when the temperature or pressure environmental are high. If these factors are not present, then it is a symptom of which we must know the cause.
Believe it or not, sweating too much at night is a very common problem . Sometimes it is only the incubation period of a cold or a small infection, it is also a very common symptom of menopause.
However, it is always important and necessary to get a diagnosis precise of the cause. A curious fact: there is the International Society of Hyperhidrosis, which is responsible for carrying out studies to raise awareness of this problem.
Although not all those who sweat at night suffer from hyperhidrosis
strong, is a problem that often occurs since in most cases it is caused by insomnia or even stress and accumulated anxiety, because you can not sleep deeply.Despite this In other cases, behind this problem, there are very serious diseases that require treatment. Let's see in more detail what the causes of night sweats can be.
Causes of night sweats
There can be several causes that cause night sweats so that we can see them one by one, in detail.
External Causes
This type of sweating may be due to non-organic causes if not environmental, such as they can be the increases of temperature external, overcoat or tissues that prevent perspiration of the skin.
Stress
They can also be due to other types of causes such as emotional ones, since in periods of high stress or anxiety, there may be an increase in sweating.
Medications
An excess of night sweats can be because of a side effect triggered by some medication. If you are taking any medication, especially those prescribed for muscle pain, which causes night sweats, you should consult the doctor.
It is also important to bear in mind that, if the cause of night sweating occurs excessive, it has to do with the type of medication that is being consumed, this is usually accompanied by other symptoms such as redness . This medication is usually also antidepressants and other psychiatric medications, aspirin, cortisone, etc.
Hyperthyroidism
This is undoubtedly the most common cause of night sweats.One of the main consequences is intolerance to heat and excessive perspiration.
Menopause
Night sweats are very frequent during hormonal changes . In women, it is one of the typical symptoms of menopause, although they usually occur both during the day and at night; they can also occur during the previous periods or during menstruation.
Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma
At the beginning of the article, we said that sometimes night sweats indicate the presence of some serious diseases .
- Hodgkin's lymphoma and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma are an example of these diseases. It is a tumor that develops in the lymphocytes, a fundamental element of the immune system.
- The lymphatic system, composed of the lymphatic tissue, the lymphatic vessels and the spleen, can suffer the effects of this disease and, therefore, night sweating becomes a recurrent symptom.
- In general, the main indicator of the presence of Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin's lymphomas is inflammation of a lymph node of the lymph node. armpit or groin .
Despite this, it is worth mentioning that it is an oncological disease that generally responds well to treatments and has a high life expectancy.
Hypoglycemia
Night sweats can also be a common symptom of hypoglycemia .
For patients suffering from diabetes Type 1, For example, it is normal that you often suffer from excessive sweating at night due to imbalances in glucose levels.
If this happens, it is for a very specific reason: the pancreas does not produce insulin and, therefore, the body begins to sweat to remedy all imbalances.
Gastric reflux or digestion problems
It certainly happens sometimes too. You eat too much at dinner or eat something that makes your stomach hurt and, at some point, in the middle of the night, you wake up feeling very bad and covered in sweat.
- It's a reaction from the body to imbalances, to any problem or internal alteration.
- We must not forget that the problems of gastric reflux can also present this symptom.
- You will also notice fatigue, pain in the chest and some difficulty breathing r. If this is your case and it happens frequently, it is important to consult a specialist.
- Once you have diagnosed the problem, you can improve your quality of life with the appropriate treatment.
When excessive sweating occurs during sleep, repeatedly and accompanied by other symptoms, a medical study must be carried out to find out what it is specifically for.as we have already mentioned. For this there is a treatment, but before doing anything we have to have a medical diagnosis. Many patients with this condition avoid talking to doctors because of embarrassment, however, there are several treatments available to prevent and cure this problem.
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