Night
sweats are “a weird symptom, because mostly they’re harmless, but every once in
a while, they’re not, so it’s certainly something that we always take
seriously,” said Dr Kate Rowland, an associate professor of family medicine at
Rush University in
Aurora, Illinois.
اضافة اعلان
There are many
potential causes of night sweats, so when patients tell Rowland that they are
waking up soaked, she will want to know more.
“One of the first
things we ask is ‘How warm is it in your room?’” she said.
The National
Sleep Foundation recommends a bedroom temperature between 16°C and 20°C for
comfortable sleep. If you are not able to keep your bedroom that cool, you can
try adding a strategically placed fan, Rowland said. Switching to lighter
bedding or sleepwear might also help.
If you are
sweating at night even after taking these steps to cool your sleep setup, see a
health care provider to consider possible medical causes. He or she will likely
ask how long and how frequently you have been having night sweats, whether
they’re mild or they drench your pajamas, and if you have additional symptoms
such as fever, weight loss, fatigue, cough, shortness of breath, or pain.
Any infection
that causes a fever might result in sweating during the day or night, but a few
serious illnesses, including tuberculosis, HIV infection, endocarditis
(inflammation of the lining of your heart valves and chambers), malaria, and
mononucleosis, have been specifically associated with night sweats. And rarely,
severe night sweats may be a symptom of a cancer such as lymphoma, Rowland
said.
“You can narrow
things down pretty quickly with a few lab tests and a few detectivelike
questions,” said Dr Andrea Matsumura, a sleep medicine physician at the Oregon
Clinic in Portland and spokesperson for the
American Academy of Sleep Medicine.
Matsumura said
she often sees patients in the menopausal transition whose sleep is fragmented
by night sweats; along with hot flashes, these often begin several years before
the final menstrual cycle and can persist for years afterward. If menopausal
night sweats are interfering with a good night’s sleep, talk with your health
care provider about treatment options, she said.
Among her
patients, excessive nighttime sweating occurs “typically because they’re having
some sort of abnormal breathing in their sleep, and that’s a sign of sleep
apnea,” Matsumura said. Studies have found that night sweats can also be
associated with insomnia, restless legs syndrome, and narcolepsy.
Finally, many
medications can cause night sweats. Among the most common culprits are
antidepressants, diabetes medications, and certain hormonal therapies. If a
medication seems to be a cause, Rowland will talk with her patients about the
risks and benefits of stopping or changing the medication, depending on how bothersome
the night sweats are.
Otherwise,
sweating in sleep may just be a part of how your body regulates its temperature
at night, Rowland said. Our usual circadian rhythm includes a small, steady
decline in core body temperature throughout the night, and sweating is a
“normal, physiologic response” that may help you reach or maintain that lower
temperature, she added. And “some people sweat more than other people do.”
Normal or not,
night sweats can be uncomfortable and disruptive to sleep. In addition to
regulating the temperature of your sleep setup, Matsumura recommended avoiding
exercise, drinking alcohol or hot beverages, and eating a heavy meal too close
to bedtime, all of which she said can cause sweating during the night.
If you normally
sleep with a partner, you might also try sleeping separately for a few nights
to see if that helps, Rowland said.
Very often, coping with
night sweats means performing a series of individual experiments in pursuit of
a more comfortable snooze. “There’s nothing magic,” Rowland said. “Different
things work for different people.”
Read more Health
Jordan News
.jpg)
.jpg)
