It is normal to sweat at night, when we sleep, if we are dressed too thick or if the room is too hot. Otherwise, however, night sweats can be a sign of various diseases.
Excessive sweating, called hyperhidrosis, occurs because of an abundant and abnormal secretion of sweat glands. The use of drugs can trigger hyperhidrosis in some people. These include vasodilators pills, hypoglycemic and the antidepressants. Also, hyperhidrosis is common in postmenopausal women. People who consume large amounts of alcohol at night can also experience night sweats.
Calcium deficiency, a possible cause:
Excessive sweating at night, located mainly in the head may indicate a lack of calcium in infants and children up to four years. Furthermore, this deficiency may be associated with a lack of magnesium. In this situation, the doctor may recommend treatment with calcium (ten days per month for three months) and vitamin D, which helps to fix calcium in the body. If hyperhidrosis remains after this treatment, further analysis is needed.
May be a sign of TB:
Among the diseases that can lead to excessive night sweating symptoms include anemia, hyperthyroidism, tuberculosis and various cancers. Usually, in TBC, hyperhidrosis is accompanied by other symptoms such as persistent cough, fever, tiredness and lack of appetite. More rarely, profuse sweat can indicate leukemia or Hodgkin lymphoma (cancer that develops in the lymphatic tissue).
In these situations, sweating is associated with other symptoms such as weight loss, fatigue or intense fatigue, bleeding gums and increasing of the axillary lymph nodes, neck or groin. Also, night sweating can occur in cases of endocarditis (infection of heart valves), stroke, heart attack, coma, hypoglycemia (in diabetes), bronchitis, osteomyelitis (inflammation of bone and marrow once the infection with various germs), abscess or other infections diseases, such as the HIV.
What medical analysis you have to do:
For detecting the causes excessive sweat, the doctor recommended some specific blood tests and investigations. Blood tests should include complete blood count, thyroid hormone determinations (which may indicate the presence of hyperthyroidism), blood glucose (may indicate the existence of diabetes or hypoglycemia) and serum uric acid. It can also be a need for performing a chest X-ray test, to exclude tuberculosis from the start.