Night Sweats: Could They Be Linked to Parasitic Diseases?

Night sweats are a common symptom that can occur in many different diseases and health conditions, and are not specific to any specific disease. Most cases of night sweats are not too serious, do not affect health and daily life. Night sweats are the body’s natural cooling mechanism to prevent hyperthermia.

Night sweats are a fairly common symptom that can appear in many different diseases and health conditions, and are not specific to any specific disease. Most cases of night sweats are not too serious, do not affect health and daily life. Night sweats ( NPS ) are the body’s natural cooling mechanism to prevent hyperthermia. The hypothalamus regulates body temperature, stimulating more than 2 million sweat glands to function. Sweat evaporates from the skin to release heat energy, thereby cooling the body.

Night sweats are excessive sweating at night, even when wearing absorbent pajamas, not like many people feel a little hotter when waking up, but that does not mean it is due to “night sweats”. Night sweats can be due to an underlying health condition or disease. Anyone can get night sweats, regardless of gender or age. Children are the group with the highest rate of this disease.

Night sweats are normal if your room or bedding is too hot. But when you sweat so much that you soak your clothes and bedding, even when the weather is cool, it can be a medical problem. Night sweats are a term used to describe excessive sweating at night that can cause a lot of discomfort. Adults and children can have night sweats , and the condition affects about 3% of the population. Many women experience night sweats during menopause or perimenopause .

CAUSES OF NIGHT SWEATS

In some cases, night sweats may be a side effect of a medication you are taking. For example, certain antidepressants , steroids, pain relievers, hormone replacement therapy, or diabetes medications , obesity, increased metabolism, excessive caffeine consumption, alcohol, tobacco, or certain drugs can also cause night sweats. Sometimes the cause of night sweats is unknown. Night sweats are a symptom of many different medical conditions and can be caused by other health conditions:

• Hyperhidrosis syndrome ;
• Untreated sleep apnea ;
• Hypoglycemia: When blood sugar levels drop, the nervous system receives a signal to stimulate the sweat glands to secrete more sweat. People who skip dinner to lose weight or are taking diabetes medication often experience hypoglycemia, causing hypoglycemia;
• An underlying infection caused by a virus, bacteria (osteomyelitis, deep abscess, deep abscess, endocarditis), parasite, or protozoan. If the body is fighting an infection, it can cause DMH. This DMH can persist for days or even weeks after other symptoms have disappeared. So if you have a fever or a bacterial infection, it could be the cause of night sweats;
• Immunocompromised patients with opportunistic infections such as tuberculosis or HIV /AIDS;
• Cancer in general and drugs used to treat cancer: Night sweats can be an early symptom of cancer, the most common of which are leukemia, carcinoid syndrome, lymphoma, lymphoma, both Hodgkin’s lymphoma and non‐Hodgkin’s lymphoma, pheochromocytoma with accompanying symptoms of fatigue, low‐grade fever, weight loss…
• Cancers (early or late stages) often have increased body temperature at night: leukemia or lymphoma;
• Congestive heart failure, chronic renal failure, multiple organ failure;
• Autonomic nervous system disorder:Hyperhidrosis due to autonomic nervous system disorder is the most common cause of night sweats. The autonomic nervous system responsible for regulating sweat secretion is over‐excited, causing the body to over‐stimulate the sweat glands, accompanied by feelings of anxiety, tension, nervousness, and mental instability;
• Giai đoạn tiền mãn kinh hoặc mãn kinh vì Là tình trạng suy giảm nội tiết tố (estrogen, progesterone ở nữ giới hoặc testosterone ở nam giới) xảy ra ở những người từ 40 tuổi trở lên với biểu hiện là ĐMHĐ, giảm ham muốn, dễ cáu gắt. Đặc biệt ở phụ nữ còn xuất hiện cơn bốc hỏa, rụng tóc, rối loạn kinh nguyệt, da khô;
• Pre‐menopause or menopause is a condition of hormonal decline (estrogen, progesterone in women or testosterone in men) that occurs in people aged 40 and over with symptoms such as PMS, decreased libido, and irritability. Especially in women, there are also hot flashes, hair loss, menstrual disorders, and dry skin;
• Cardiovascular disease: Myocarditis can be a warning sign of myocardial infarction or myocarditis if accompanied by angina, shortness of breath, palpitations, fatigue;
• Genetic variation: There is a link between “vasomotor symptoms” and excessive sweating. It may be due to a genetic variation, particularly in women. Carolyn Crandall, the study’s first author and a professor of medicine at the University of California at Los Angeles, said the gene variation is related to a part of the female brain that controls certain hormones and may be linked to infertility and delayed or absent puberty. Carolyn said it is too early to draw conclusions about the link between the gene variation and any specific health problems, so researchers need to do more research;
• Calcium deficiency often causes osteoporosis in the head, chest, and back. This condition can occur at any age, especially in young children;
• Autoimmune disorders, collagen diseases: Autoimmune disorders are conditions in which the immune system mistakes something normal or benign for a health hazard. There are many types of disorders, such as certain types of lupus (tuberculous skin diseases), that can cause DMHD. Rheumatoid arthritis and celiac disease are two other types of disorders.
• Stress anxiety and sleep disorders;
• Night sweats in children: Whether it is hot or cold, wearing a lot of clothes or not, children with night sweats still sweat a lot when sleeping at night. It makes children uncomfortable, fussy, and even sweat seeps back into the body, causing pneumonia and bronchitis. Night sweats in children are divided into two types: physiological night sweats and pathological night sweats. In addition to a lot of night sweats, children may also have a few other symptoms such as poor appetite, protruding chest, large bones… Areas of the child’s body that sweat easily include: armpits, chest, back, hands, feet.

Physiological metabolism: In young children, metabolism is more active than in adults. Therefore, sweating a lot is the way for the child’s body to release heat. For this reason, night sweats in children are completely normal and nothing to worry about;

Pathological night sweats:: Unlike physiological night sweats, excessive sweating at night can be a warning sign that your baby has a disease, possibly rickets. Your baby will sweat a lot while sleeping or breastfeeding, even when the weather is cool and the environment is airy.

If you often wake up in the middle of the night because your clothes and pillows are soaked with sweat, whether you are in an air‐conditioned room or in winter, you need to be careful, because there is a high possibility that you have an illness.

SYMPTOMS OF NIGHT SWEATS

The first and most typical symptom of night sweats may be accompanied by other symptoms of the disease. In addition, the patient may also experience some accompanying symptoms such as tun, chills, fever; diarrhea, unexplained weight loss, hot flashes during the day and women may have vaginal dryness.

This expert also pointed out additional signs that go along with the phenomenon of night sweats so that if patients experience them, they should see a doctor immediately:

• Persistent sweating: Most cases of non‐cancerous night sweats will not be persistent;
• Other associated symptoms such as fatigue and lack of energy;
• There may also be unexplained bruising;
• May have pain for no apparent reason;
• The lymph nodes may be swollen;
• Can also sweat on days that are not too hot;
• Swollen lymph nodes and easy bruising: The most common cancers that cause night sweats are leukemia and lymphoma, which are cancers of the blood and lymphatic system. As a result, people may also experience symptoms such as swollen lymph nodes and easy bruising. Other accompanying symptoms may include facial flushing, changes in heart rate and blood pressure, and muscle and joint pain.

It is important that if you experience persistent sweating, you see your doctor early for a check‐up.

Hyperhidrosis can be localized or generalized.

Tăng tiết mồ hôi khu trú

Emotional causes are common, causing sweating on the palms, soles, armpits, and forehead when anxious, excited, angry, or afraid. It may be due to increased blood flow due to stress. Sweating is also common during exercise and in hot environments. Although such sweating is a normal response, in conditions that do not cause sweating in most people, hyperhidrosis occurs;

There are several possible causes of lip and mouth sweating, most of which are unknown. For example, sweating around the lips and mouth may occur when spicy or hot foods and drinks are swallowed. Pathological causes include diabetic neuropathy , herpes zoster of the face, cervical sympathetic ganglion involvement, trauma or CNS disease, or parotid gland damage. Frey’s syndrome is a neurological condition caused by damage to or around the parotid gland due to surgery, infection, or trauma. Frey’s syndrome involves the auriculotemporal nerve, with subsequent inappropriate regeneration of the parotid parasympathetic fibers into sympathetic fibers innervating local sweat glands in the area of ​​skin trauma. As a result, the misplaced parasympathetic fibers (which normally cause salivation as a taste response) instead activate sympathetic fibers, causing redness and (inappropriate) sweating of the cheeks in front of the ears.

Other causes of focal sweating include pretibial myxedema, hypertrophic osteoarthropathy (palmar), and blue rubber bleb nevi and glomus tumors (over the lesion). Compensatory sweating is intense sweating after sympathectomy.
Hyperhidrosis

Hyperhidrosis

Generalized hyperhidrosis affects most of the body. Although most cases are idiopathic, there may be several predisposing factors.

Table 1. Some causes of generalized sweating

continute ‐‐ > Part 2: TÁC ĐỘNG CỦA ĐỔ MỒ HÔI ĐÊM LÊN SỨC KHỎE

Author: Dr. Huynh Hong Quang
(Quy Nhon Institute of Malaria, Parasitology and Entomology)