Perspiration is the production of fluids secreted by the sweat glands in the skin of mammals.
Two types of sweat glands can be found in humans: eccrine glands and apocrine glands.
The eccrine sweat glands are distributed over much of the body.
In humans, sweating is primarily a means of thermoregulation which is achieved by the
water-rich secretion of the eccrine glands. Maximum sweat rates of an adult can be up
to 2-4 liters per hour or 10-14 liters per day, but is less in children prior to puberty.
Evaporation of sweat from the skin surface has a cooling effect due to evaporative cooling.
Hence, in hot weather, or when the individual's muscles heat up due to exertion, more sweat
is produced. Animals with few sweat glands, such as dogs, accomplish similar temperature
regulation results by panting, which evaporates water from the moist lining of the oral cavity
and pharynx. Primates and horses have armpits that sweat
like those of humans. Although sweating is found in a wide variety of mammals, relatively
few, such as humans and horses, produce large amounts of sweat in order to cool down.
Definitions Hypohidrosis is decreased sweating from whatever
cause. Focal hyperhidrosis is increased or excessive
sweating in certain regions such as the underarms, palms, soles, face or groin.
Hyperhidrosis, also referred to as generalized or secondary hyperhidrosis, is excessive sweating
due to an underlying condition and usually involves the body as a whole.
Hidromeiosis is a reduction in sweating that is due to blockages of sweat glands in humid
conditions. Mechanism
Sweating allows the body to regulate its temperature. Sweating is controlled from a center in the
preoptic and anterior regions of the brain's hypothalamus, where thermosensitive neurons
are located. The heat-regulatory function of the hypothalamus is also affected by inputs
from temperature receptors in the skin. High skin temperature reduces the hypothalamic
set point for sweating and increases the gain of the hypothalamic feedback system in response
to variations in core temperature. Overall, however, the sweating response to a rise in
hypothalamic temperature is much larger than the response to the same increase in average
skin temperature. Sweating causes a decrease in core temperature
through evaporative cooling at the skin surface. As high energy molecules evaporate from the
skin, releasing energy absorbed from the body, the skin and superficial vessels decrease
in temperature. Cooled venous blood then returns to the body's core and counteracts rising
core temperatures. There are two situations in which the nerves
will stimulate the sweat glands, causing perspiration: during physical heat and during emotional
stress. In general, emotionally induced sweating is restricted to palms, soles, armpits, and
sometimes the forehead, while physical heat-induced sweating occurs throughout the body.
People have an average of two to four million sweat glands. But how much sweat is released
by each gland is determined by many factors, including gender, genetics, environmental
conditions, age or fitness level. Two of the major contributors to sweat rate are an individual's
fitness level and weight. If an individual weighs more, sweat rate is likely to increase
because the body must exert more energy to function and there is more body mass to cool
down. On the other hand, a fit person will start sweating earlier and easier. As someone
becomes fit, the body becomes more efficient at regulating the body's temperature and sweat
glands adapt along with the body's other systems. Sweat is not pure water; it always contains
a small amount of solute. When a person moves from a cold climate to a hot climate, adaptive
changes occur in the sweating mechanisms of the person. This process is referred to as
acclimatisation: the maximum rate of sweating increases and its solute composition decreases.
The volume of water lost in sweat daily is highly variable, ranging from 100 to 8,000
mL/day. The solute loss can be as much as 350 mmol/day of sodium under the most extreme
conditions. During average intensity exercise, sweat losses can average up to 2 litres of
water/hour. In a cool climate and in the absence of exercise, sodium loss can be very low.
Sodium concentration in sweat is 30-65 mmol/l, depending on the degree of acclimatisation.
Composition
Sweat contains mainly water. It also contains minerals, lactate, and urea. Mineral composition
varies with the individual, their acclimatisation to heat, exercise and sweating, the particular
stress source, the duration of sweating, and the composition of minerals in the body. An
indication of the minerals content is sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium. Also many other
trace elements are excreted in sweat, again an indication of their concentration is zinc,
copper, iron, chromium, nickel, lead. Probably many other less-abundant trace minerals leave
the body through sweating with correspondingly lower concentrations. Some exogenous organic
compounds make their way into sweat as exemplified by an unidentified odiferous "maple syrup"
scented compound in several of the species in the mushroom genus Lactarius. In humans,
sweat is hypoosmotic relative to plasma . Sweat typically is found at moderately acidic to
neutral pH levels, typically between 4.5 and 7.0.
See also
References
Further reading Ferner S, Koszmagk R, Lehmann A, Heilmann
W. "[Reference values of Na(+) and Cl(-) concentrations in adult sweat]". Zeitschrift Für Erkrankungen
Der Atmungsorgane 175: 70–5. PMID 2264363. Nadel ER, Bullard RW, Stolwijk JA. "Importance
of skin temperature in the regulation of sweating". Journal of Applied Physiology 31: 80–7.
PMID 5556967. Sato K, Kang WH, Saga K, Sato KT. "Biology
of sweat glands and their disorders. I. Normal sweat gland function". Journal of the American
Academy of Dermatology 20: 537–63. doi:10.1016/S0190-9622(89)70063-3. PMID 2654204.