What are night sweats and should you be concerned about them?
We speak to an expert about how to deal with night sweats and their underlying causes
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We all sweat, and sweating is a core part of how our bodies regulate temperature. So, whilst it’s not the most glamorous of subjects, sweating is important. Our body temperature is part of our circadian rhythms and normally follows a daily cycle that correlates with our sleep-wake pattern. But if you’re sweating excessively at night and soaking your bedsheets and nightwear, you are suffering with night sweats, and these can be highly unpleasant.
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What are night sweats?
Night sweats are when you sweat in excess of what’s required to regulate body temperature. TheNHS defines night sweatsas when you ‘sweat so much that your night clothes and bedding are soaking wet, even though where you’re sleeping is cool. This is known as a drenching sweat. Night sweats can be slightly less dramatic as well, but can happen for a number of reasons. Like many sleep conditions, night sweats can have a negative effect on your sleep and general wellbeing, so it’s important to try and deal with them.
Temperature regulation and thermoregulatory mechanisms
To understand night sweats, it helps to understand a little more about the human body’s temperature regulation. The human body needs to be kept at a temperature of around 37C or its biochemical and physiological processes cannot function correctly.
“The body has a series of sophisticated mechanisms known as thermoregulatory mechanisms for controlling body temperature”, explainsDr Deborah Lee, a medical and healthcare content writer for Dr Fox Online Pharmacy. “If the hypothalamus in the brain senses the body temperature is too high, mechanisms are automatically put into operation to cool the body down. They include sweating, panting, blood vessel dilatation and we naturally seek shade.
“Alternatively, if the body temperature is too low, reverse mechanisms are brought into play to warm the body up. Sweating ceases, blood vessels are constricted to conserve heat, there is no change in the rate of breathing, and we naturally search for warmth.”
What causes night sweats?
With the complexity of the body’s temperature regulation system, it can be difficult to tell what’s causing night sweats. Many causes are relatively harmless, but night sweats can be linked to more serious conditions. Dr Lee explains the most common causes below:
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When should you be concerned about night sweats?
“It’s very common to sweat at night,” explains Dr Lee, “often for the simple reason that the bedroom or duvet are too warm, and your body has become overheated. In onestudy from UK General Practice, 41% of adults said they had suffered from night sweats recently. Night sweats were most common in men and women between the ages of 41 to 55 years. Most people who sweat at night do not have a serious underlying cause and can improve the situation by taking some simple steps.
But if you are persistently waking up sweating at night over a period of 2 or 3 weeks, see your GP. This is especially important if these are drenching sweats, meaning you are soaking wet and need to get up, shower and change the bed linen. Also, if you have any additional symptoms such as unintended weight loss or fatigue.”
Does alcohol cause night sweats?
Studies showthat alcohol can cause a number of sleep disorders, with night sweats being one of them. Alcohol stimulates the cardiovascular system, causes dilation of peripheral bloods vessels and studies also show that itdirectly affects thermoregulation. Alcohol withdrawal and alcohol intolerance can also cause night sweating.
How can you prevent night sweats?
Dr Lee suggests these practical tips to help with night sweats:
How to stop night sweats ruining your mattress
Over time sweat can ruin a mattress, as well as leave it with unsightly stains. One of our recommendedcooling mattresseswill do the ultimate job at helping with temperature regulation overnight, but this is obviously a large expense.
If you’re not ready to replace your mattress, make sure it’s protected with a washablemattress protectorandclean it regularly.
Dr Deborah Lee was an NHS doctor for many years, and now works as a medical and healthcare content writer for Dr Fox (Dr Fox Online Pharmacy).
Jo Plumridge is a freelance writer and photographer with over 20 years of experience writing for a variety of magazines, books and websites. She writes, perhaps unsurprisingly, about photography but also extensively on all things sleep and interior design related, alongside home and tech product reviews. She’s lived in the middle of a nature reserve in Botswana and written a guidebook to New Zealand, but now spends a lot of time trying to photograph the cats she and her husband foster for a local charity - without a doubt the most challenging subjects on earth!
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