12 Causes of Excessive Sweating

28. Oktober 2025

2 Min. Lesezeit

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Excessive sweating can cause serious discomfort. It can also be a symptom of a number of diseases. To deal with it, you need to know the possible causes.

Wichtigste Erkenntnisse

Excessive sweating can cause serious discomfort.
Unpleasant but safe
Sweat as a symptom

Für wen das ist

Für alle, die Gesunder Lebensstil über sweating, Hormone erkunden.

Warum es wichtig ist

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Artikelautor

Dr. Helga

Allgemeinmedizinerin

Unpleasant but safe

An increased temperature due to the flu or acute respiratory infections is the first and most obvious reason. The body thus cools down, and excessive sweating will stop along with the end of the underlying disease.
Hyperhidrosis (the medical name for excessive sweating) is typical for women at the onset of menopause. The so-called "hot flashes"— a sharp rise in body temperature — are accompanied by profuse sweating for the same reason as the acute respiratory infections: the body tries to bring down the temperature on its own.
Hereditary factors can be a cause — and in this case, sweating is a feature of the body, inherent in other family members. Its distinctive feature is that it does not often appear at night.
Excessive weight can also be a factor — the bigger a person, the stronger the sweats, because any movement causes a serious physical load.

Sweat as a symptom

Hyperthyroidism causes excessive sweating. If you experience a sudden change of mood, tearfulness, increased appetite, trembling in the body and limbs, palpitations, or rapid weight loss, this may be the cause.
Hypoglycemia (lack of sugar in the blood) increases the production of the hormone adrenaline, which in turn increases sweating. However, these are short-lived episodes because hypoglycemia is replaced by hyperglycemia.
Pheochromocytoma, an adrenal tumor, also increases adrenaline levels in the blood. Pheochromocytoma is characterized by fits of sweating, accompanied by tachycardia, confusion, and trembling in the muscles.
Ovarian cysts occur when an egg is produced but does not leave the ovary, the follicle (its shell) begins to proliferate, and the male hormone testosterone begins to be produced in the body in parallel. This increases sweating because men normally sweat twice as much as women.
Coronary heart disease may cause intermittent sweating. A characteristic symptom is a feeling of heat, although the body temperature remains normal and the extremities may even be cold.
Kidney disease occurs when the kidneys are unable to remove sufficient fluid from the body, and the excretory system switches to the sweat glands. Infrequent urination, darkened urine, swelling, and subfebrile fever are additional symptoms.
Tuberculosis is another deadly disease that causes severe sweating. If you have a severe cough, chest pain, blood in your sputum, enlarged lymph nodes, or general malaise, a Mantoux or Diakine test is recommended.
Some malignant tumors (pituitary gland, stomach, lungs) manifest themselves by excessive sweating, among other symptoms. If no other causes of sweating are identified, it is worth a visit to an oncologist.

If the causes of sweating discussed at the beginning of the article do not apply to you, and sweating is accompanied by any other unusual reactions of the body, it is worth seeing your doctor who will examine you and run appropriate tests.

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