Everybody has been awakened in the middle of the night at one time or another because they feel too hot. A heat wave during the middle of the summer with a broken air conditioner will overheat anyone, but sometimes there is an underlying medical condition causing it.
Defining Medical Night Sweats
When the reason is medical, it is called 'night sweats' and it is distinguished from the typical nighttime overheating by a literal drenching of the sheets and mattress with sweat. If it is medical, the problem does not resolve itself by removing the sheets or by turning on a fan.
Virtually any person, young or old, can be a victim of night sweats. Since these sweats can be induced by sicknesses, medication and hormone imbalances among other problems, no one is immune to them. The two most common reasons a person begins suffering with this type of sweating are menopause and sugar imbalances.
Menopause and Low Blood Sugar
It is believed that the way estrogen frequently surges during menopause causes the body's natural thermostat to 'short out', making the blood vessels dilate, which then makes the sweat glands operate in the effort to cool down the body.
People, men and women alike and sometimes children, can suffer from low blood sugar even if they do not have diabetes. Many times night sweats is caused by low blood sugar, and when the victim of this condition wakes up drenched and check their sugar level, they find that it is indeed low. If someone is diabetic sometimes the insulin that they have to take, which is also a hormone, will cause the same surges that estrogen causes.
Additional Night Sweats Causes
By choosing or avoiding certain foods and beverages, a person suffering from this nighttime sweating may be able to reduce some of the symptoms. It is believed that spicy foods and alcohol can exacerbate the condition. By keeping a journal of everything put into the body for the last four hours before bedtime, the sufferer may be able to detect a pattern that leads up to a bout of night sweats.
Some people feel quite anxious after waking up drenched. This could be due to the other processes happening in the body that caused the sweats to begin in the first place. Some believe that calming exercises before bedtime, such as deep breathing, may increase the chances of a dry night.
Common Sense Treatments
Also available to someone with this condition is sleepwear made of special wicking material, the same kind that an athlete wears to keep cool while they compete. It is also believed that a person can control their night sweats with exercise. It has been suggested that the heavier a person is, the more frequently night sweats occur.
If the sweating occurs in someone with neither of these problems, be sure that the extreme sweating only occurs during the night. Generally, if someone has an infectious disease or something worse, like cancer, sweating will happen at any time during a twenty-four hour period and not only at night. Even if the sufferer has discovered what the problem is on their own, take them to see their doctor so it can be documented.
Learn more about other medical and environmental causes of night sweats and find creative and effective ways to treat this condition at: Help For Night Sweats
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