Don’t you sweat during the day? Do you think this is good for your health? When faced with external stimuli to heat, the lack or absence of sweating is considered abnormal and medically defined as Anhidrosis.
This abnormal condition brings with it the inability to lower body temperature by generating an increase in excess heat, which can sometimes be fatal. This condition is usually rare and can be related to causes such as burns, radiation, inflammation, or skin infection. Treatment is intended to treat the underlying cause if it can be detected. In the following FastlyHealarticle we will tell you what Anhidrosis is about: definition, causes, and treatment to follow.
Table of Contents
What is Anhidrosis
Medically, Anhidrosis is the abnormal absence of sweating when faced with different stimuli such as exertion, heat, or stress. When you suffer from Anhidrosis, you cannot sweat properly.
Anhidrosis is considered a serious health problem since sweating is a way to regulate body temperature and lose heart. It is differentiated from hypohidrosis since this is the partial loss of the ability to sweat, which is not as severe as Anhidrosis.
Sweating is essential for humans as it allows the body to lose heat and cool down; not being possible, it can be a severe health problem. Now, there are different forms of Anhidrosis depending on the affectation they have:
- The first one is when sweat cannot be produced throughout the body
- The second affects only some areas of the skin.
The body seeks to maintain an internal balance in temperature so that any deviation can affect vital metabolic processes. Sweating is considered a compensatory mechanism for physical activities. Likewise, sweating is essential to maintain the proper pH of the human body, protecting the body from different aggressive pathogens.
Anhidrosis: common causes
Although this condition is rare, it is usually caused by particular causes:
- Diabetes mellitus: this condition that affects the endocrinological system is also related to Anhidrosis, in which nerves associated with the eccrine glands can be affected; this is a type of sweat gland distributed in almost all areas of the skin.
- Hypothyroidism: also related to the manifestation of Anhidrosis, the thyroid hormone is widely associated with body regulation.
- Anhidrosis due to skin diseases: Many skin conditions directly affect the sweat glands, resulting in Anhidrosis in areas where the skin is involved.
This occurs, for example, in:
- The scleroderma is where there is hardening of the skin’s connective tissue.
- Ichthyosis is a disease in which the skin is dry, thickened, and scaly.
- Severe aging due to high ultraviolet radiation is also related to Anhidrosis.
- The malaria disease closes the excretory ducts of sweat glands turn to avoid sweating and adequate thermoregulation.
- Anhidrosis in nervous disorders: on the other hand, some nervous conditions can also trigger Anhidrosis because sweating can be affected after altering the nerve fibers that control the functioning of the sweat glands.
- Polyneuropathy: a disease in which the peripheral nervous system is affected that, in addition to generating Anhidrosis, causes disorders in movement and feelings. It is widely related to excessive alcohol consumption, diabetes mellitus, and vitamin deficiency.
Other causes related to the absence of sweating are:
- Severe dehydration
- Drug side effects.
- Burns.
- Guillan-Barre syndrome.
Anhidrosis: rare causes
The absence of sweating is also considered a symptom of rare genetic diseases :
- Anhidrotic ectodermal dysplasia is one of the causes of Anhidrosis; it is a genetic disease linked to the X chromosome that occurs from birth and tends to be fatal. This disease also causes malformations in the skin, hair, teeth, and nails.
- Fabry disease: Anderson Fabry disease is characterized by a deficiency of the enzyme alpha-galactosidase A. It is a complex metabolic disease that among its symptoms is anhidrosis.
- Ross syndrome: where there is Anhidrosis in only half of the body, the other half of the body being the compensator of body thermoregulation.
- Congenital insensitivity to pain: this is a genetic disease whose primary characteristic is the inability to feel pain or perceive temperature changes; a lack of sweating accompanies it. According to the National Center For Advancing Translational Sciences [1] is present in all patients. Cases of this rare disease.
What is the treatment for Anhidrosis?
Once the absence of sweating has been determined, you should go to the doctor immediately; he will carry out a test to provoke sweating or perspiration through physical exercise, high temperature, or after administering some medications. Once the result is positive, the appropriate treatment will be indicated, depending on the underlying cause.
In case of serious illnesses, joint management with the different medical specialists will be vital for preserving the patient’s life, who will give the necessary indications to alleviate the symptoms related to each pathology. In case anhidrosis is the main problem, you can also indicate specific measures such as:
- Cover yourself enough from the sun.
- Drink a lot of fluids.
- Take cold showers.
- Avoid overexposure to the sun.
Despite being Anhidrosis, a rare condition, it must be taken into account due to the severity of suffering from it.
This article is merely informative, at FastlyHeal .com we do not have the power to prescribe medical treatments or make any type of diagnosis. We invite you to see a doctor in the case of presenting any type of condition or discomfort.
If you want to read more articles similar to Anhidrosis: definition, causes and treatment, we recommend that you enter our Skin, hair and nails category .
I am a Surgeon with a diploma in comprehensive ultrasound and surgical care residency, an area I am specializing in. During the exercise of my profession, I have realized the need for patients to know the diseases they suffer, and I can tell you that a large part of their complications is due to a lack of information. Being a health web writer allows me to transmit my experience, without borders, to all those readers eager for knowledge, educate them in the prevention of diseases and promote a healthy lifestyle.