Diabetes and abnormal sweating: What is the connection?
Many people with diabetes will experience times when they sweat too much, too little, or at odd times.
Diabetes-related nervous system damage and low blood sugars cause these commonly experienced sweating conditions in people with diabetes.
Sweating complications can be a sign of poor diabetes management. Maintaining healthy blood sugar levels is crucial to both prevention and treatment.
Contents of this article:
Diabetes and sweating problems
People sweat for a variety of reasons. Some of these reasons are normal and some are not.
Sweating is a natural response to physical and emotional stress. But excessive sweating, when the reason is unclear, is often a sign that something is not right. Some people with sweating conditions will sweat even on a cold day or during minimal activity.
Low blood sugar levels and diabetes-related nervous system damage cause the most commonly experienced sweating conditions in people with diabetes.
Extremely low blood sugars cause a fight-or-flight response, triggering the release of hormones that increase sweating.
When blood sugar levels are too high for too long, a loss of nerve function can occur. This condition is known as diabetic neuropathy. The American Diabetes Association (ADA) claim that around half of people with diabetes experience some form of neuropathy.
If the nerves that control the sweat glands are damaged, they may send the wrong message to sweat glands, or none at all. In most cases, neuropathies cause either excessive sweating or an inability to sweat.
Sweating caused by hypoglycemia
Hypoglycemia is a term to describe abnor Continue reading