Night Sweats Causes

Have you ever gone through a condition wherein you have sweat mildly or profusely during nights regularly or irregularly? Do not worry; you might be suffering from one of the most common menopause symptoms called night sweats. These episodes of night sweats are medically termed as sleep hyperhidrosis that refers to sweating excessively at night. Many women having night sweats say that they pass through the similar symptoms of night sweats even during those hours when they do not sleep. To these women, I would say that the duration and frequency of night sweats vary as per the age and conditions.

It is obvious that to know this symptom of menopause, one is required to know about the night sweats causes. Therefore, most of the women experiencing night sweats are always eager to identify the night sweats causes that lead to this nocturnal symptom of menopause. To quench their eagerness, majority of the experts who are researching in this field have pointed hormonal imbalance as the main offender. However, even today, the exact cause of night sweats is not discovered. Hormonal imbalance is also the primary reason of hot flashes and so one can conclude that the signs and symptoms of night sweats are similar to those of daytime hot flashes, except that night sweats mainly feature too much sweating.

Just take 10 minutes to read this article via which you will be able to identify the night sweats causes.
 

• The Most Common Cause (Hormonal)The common cause of night sweats is hormonal by character. In menopausal women, the fluctuating levels resulting in the decline of estrogen levels in the body can lead to sweats. This means that it is really not mandatory to experience night sweats. This declined amount of estrogen negatively impacts the hypothalamus, the part of the brain that manages appetite, certain hormone levels, sleep, and the body temperature. Listed below is the scientific process that results in night sweats.
• Reduced level of estrogen
• Decrease in circulating endorphin and cathecol estrogens
• Boost in the release of serotonin and norepinepheine
• Lowering of thermoregularory set point
• Minor change in the body temperature
• Provocation of heat loss mechanisms
• Generation of night sweats
As per the above process, the reduced levels of estrogen confuse the hypothalamus that mistakenly comprehends that the body is overheating. It is not yet known as to how this confusion is built. However, this confused state is called ‘thermostat’ in which the hypothalamus detects the illusionary condition - ‘It’s too hot.’ On this, a series of reactions are generated leading to sweats at night. As the first reaction, the brain reacts by broadcasting an alert message to the heart, blood vessels, and nervous system, which indicates the need to control the heat. The nervous system’s chemical messenger named epinephrine and other compounds such as norepinephrine, prostaglandin, and serotonin send this message. In just few seconds, the message is reached after which the heart pumps faster, the blood vessels widen to circulate more blood to do away with the heat, and the sweat glands emit sweat for cooling.

This mechanism is the natural process followed in summer by the body to maintain the temperature. However, in menopause, this process is triggered because of the reduced levels of estrogen that incorrectly asks the brain to transmit a wrong message. With this, sometimes, the skin temperature increases so high that body cools down uncomfortably irrespective of whether you are having a good sleep or not.

Besides this normal night sweats cause, there are other medical conditions that might lead to sweats.
 

• Other Causes Besides hormonal imbalance, there are medical conditions that are found to have resulted in night sweats. These are diabetes, anxiety, neurological conditions, sleep apnea, cancer, and thyroid disorder.

 
• Night Sweat Triggers Certain factors can result in high intensity of night sweats or in frequent sweats at night. These triggers are environmental, emotional, and behavioral. Environmental triggers are:

• Excess bedding
• Close proximity to bed partner
• Hot rooms
• Warm weather
• Saunas, tubs, hot showers

Emotional triggers are:

• Stress
• Anxiety
• Upsetting dreams

Behavioral triggers are

• Hot or spicy foods
• Alcohol or caffeine
• Diet pills
• Smoking
• Drug use