All About Sweating



All About Sweating
Sweating or Perspiring is a cooling condition for the body. Once our body temperature increases beyond the  normal level,  'Hypothalamus' the part of the brain that is responsible for controlling the body temperature sends signals to sweat. The sweat is excreted from the sweat glands in the body. The sweat majorly consists of water and traces of urea and salts. Sweating is your body's way of getting rid of excess body heat, which is produced by metabolism, working muscles, stress etc.,

The sweat leaves the body through the tiny holes of the sweat glands. Once eposed to air it evaporates and thus cools the body. Sweat glands are distributed over the entire body -- except for the lips, nipples and external genital organs. The sweat gland is in the layer of skin called the dermis. There are two kinds of sweat glands they are the Eccrine and the Apocrine sweat glands. The Eccrine secretes water and some salts, the Apocrine secretes fatty substances. Eccrine is responsible for the body's thermoregulation activity. Eccrine is numerous in number and is found wide spread in the body in the areas like forehead, palms etc., Apocrine glands are found in areas like armpits and genitals.

In situations when one sweats a lot, the water loss due to sweating should be adequately compensated by increasing the water intake in order to avoid dehydration. Sweating occurs due to various reasons like stress, anxiety etc., Too much of sweating causes body odour. Sweat itself has no odour, but when bacteria on the skin and hair metabolize the proteins and fatty acids, they produce an unpleasant odor. To prevent body odour one can put a few leaves of neem in the bathing water, regularly use an effective deodorant or an anti-prespirant.

Sometimes excessive sweating occurs due to hormonal imbalances, overactive thyroid glands, strained nervous system in such cases medical advice should be sort. Those who sweat a lot due to stress can try practicing yoga to prevent stress. Increase the intake of water. Practice drinking cool fruit juices and lemonades. Bathe at least twice a day in cold water. avoid wearing synthetic tight fitting clothes. Avoid too much of exposure to hot temperatures. Mind your stress levels. Maintaining personal hygiene is most important.