Hyperhidrosis, also called excessive sweating, sudorrhea, or polyhidrosis, can affect either a particular area of the body or the whole body. Though it is not a life-threatening disorder, it might get uncomfortable and lead to psychological trauma or social embarrassment. Here’s what you should know about this condition:

Causes of hyperhidrosis
In some people, hyperhidrosis might be present right from birth, but it might develop over time in other cases. It has been noted that most people with hyperhidrosis develop the condition in their teenage years. What’s important to know is that there might either be no particular causes of hyperhidrosis, or the condition might be a result of an underlying health disorder. There are two types of hyperhidrosis with varying causes.

Primary hyperhidrosis
Primary hyperhidrosis is often regarded as idiopathic hyperhidrosis, which implies that the cause is unknown. Many people were of the view that this type of hyperhidrosis occurs because of emotional and mental health-related factors. Some even called this condition psychological and stated that stress was the primary cause of hyperhidrosis, as it is usually seen in nervous, anxious, or stressed individuals. However, this has been dismissed by recent reports.

These reports suggest that it is not stress, anxiety, or nervousness that causes primary hyperhidrosis, but hyperhidrosis leads to the person experiencing anxiety, stress, or nervousness.

At times, genes are a primary contributor to hyperhidrosis, so people with others having hyperhidrosis in the family are more likely to develop it. In most people with primary hyperhidrosis, it has been found that their parent or sibling already had this condition.

Secondary hyperhidrosis
In the case of secondary hyperhidrosis, a person experiences excessive sweating because of a pre-existing health condition. Secondary hyperhidrosis has a diverse list of causes, and genetic factors also have a crucial role to play in the development of this condition. In many cases, it has been found that people with hyperhidrosis usually have a sibling or parents suffering from this disorder, and that is how they inherited the condition.

At times, a person suffering from either one or more of the following health issues might also suffer from secondary hyperhidrosis:

• Diabetes
• Anxiety
• Injury in the spinal cord
• Heart disease
• Alcohol abuse
• Diabetes mellitus
• Hyperthyroidism, which is a condition that causes the thyroid gland to be overactive
• Gout
• Parkinson’s disease
• Obesity or being overweight
• Shingles
• Respiratory failure
• Pregnancy
• Infections like TB, malaria, or HIV
• Cancers like Hodgkin’s lymphoma
• Menopause
• Mercury poisoning
• Tumor
• Substance abuse
• Some medications like anticholinesterases, which is prescribed for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, can also be causes of hyperhidrosis. Other medicines that can have the same effects include antidepressants, propranolol that is taken to overcome high BP, or pilocarpine that is used to treat glaucoma.