Sweating and body odor

ARTICLE SECTIONS

Definition

Sitting in the heat of the sun, working out at the gym, giving a presentation at work — all of these activities can make you sweat. It's both natural and healthy to sweat under these conditions. In fact, when you're exposed to heat, strenuous exercise or extreme emotional stress, you may lose several quarts of fluid in perspiration. A pea-sized bead of sweat can cool nearly 1 liter (about 1 quart) of blood 1 degree Fahrenheit.

Sometimes, however, the complex mechanism of perspiration goes awry, resulting in either excessive perspiration (hyperhidrosis) or little or no perspiration (anhidrosis). Excessive sweating can be embarrassing and may sometimes signal a more serious health problem. Anhidrosis is potentially life-threatening.

Yet for most people, sweating is simply a minor nuisance. The odor that sometimes occurs when you sweat is probably more troublesome. Although perspiration is practically odorless, it can take on an unpleasant smell when it comes into contact with bacteria on your skin. If you find this offensive, you're not alone — Americans spend hundreds of millions of dollars a year on antiperspirants and deodorants.

Symptoms