Why is it particularly easy to sweat on the baby's head?Especially when sleeping

A lot of sweating on the baby's head is mostly a normal physiological cause, but some may also be caused by pathological factors. There are the following points.

Physiological factors

Fore forehead small sweat glands dense distribution

The human sweat glands are divided into small sweat glands and big sweat glands. The sweat glands on the forehead are mainly small sweat glands. At the same time, the forehead is one of the most concentrated parts of the human sweat glands.

Small sweat glands are an important skin tissue that regulates body temperature, which is mainly controlled by the body temperature regulating center of the hypothalamus.

Under normal circumstances, factors such as activity, high environmental temperature, too much quilt, eating, emotional excitement and other factors can stimulate the baby's small sweat glands to secrete sweat in large quantities. Studies have shown that the healthy babies have the most sweating on the forehead, upper limbs, and feet, and the sweating rate of the forehead is significantly higher than other parts [2].

Although these research data are measured during intermittent movements at a room temperature of 30 ° C and 40% humidity, after all, the distribution of human sweat glands is fixed, so which parts of the body are more likely to sweat. The picture below is still very representative.

Picture source: [2]

Babies have a lot of energy consumption and are easier to produce heat

Baby's energy consumption includes basic metabolism, food digestion and absorption, activity consumption, excretion consumption, growth and development consumption. Because the baby's basic metabolic rate is significantly higher than adults, and the baby's body is in the growth and development period, it also needs a lot of energy consumption. Therefore, the baby's energy consumption level will be higher than adults.

The higher the energy consumption level, it means that more heat will produce, so it is easier for babies to start the skin's heat dissipation reaction and sweat to heat dissipation [3].

The ratio of the surface area / weight of the baby is high

The human body mainly uses the skin to heat dissipation in various forms.

The ratio of the baby's surface area / weight (BSA / m) is higher than that of adults, and the baby's energy consumption level is high, which means that the baby's skin is responsible for heavier heat dissipation tasks. This feature also leads to the baby's sweat than an adult More [4].

Baby's autonomous nerve function incomplete

The baby's nervous system has not yet developed, and the autonomous nerve development of the body temperature is not very mature, and it is easily stimulated by external factors, leading to sweating. And the younger the age, the more obvious the symptoms of sweating.

In addition, when the baby just falls asleep at night, the temperature will be at a high level [5], and it will drop to the low point after 1 to 2 hours. This feature also leads to some healthy babies. sweat.

Pathological factors

A large amount of sweating on the baby's abnormal forehead is called pathological sweating, which can cause pathological sweating. For example:::

Reasons such as obesity and 佝偻 disease

There are many reasons for the abnormal sweating of the baby, but most of them will be accompanied by other diseases [6], which mainly include the following.

Nutrition -related diseases: such as 佝偻 disease, obesity, etc.

Infectious diseases: Diseases caused by various germs of infection may occur, such as tuberculosis, infectious endocarditis, etc.

Endocrine and metabolic diseases: common hyperthyroidism, diabetes, hypoglycemia, etc.

Cardiovascular disease: such as heart failure, hypotension, etc.

Neurological disease: such as pituitary tumor

Connective tissue disease: such as systemic lupus erythematosus

Malignant diseases: such as malignant lymphoma, leukemia, etc.

Drug response: such as ibuprofen, to non -steroidal anti -inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen, acetaminol, etc., and organic phosphorus poisoning

Primary sweat

Hyperhidrosis (HH) is a genetic disease that sweats a large amount of sweat in the whole body, and the prevalence of the baby is about 2.8%. It can be manifested as sweating on the head and face, but usually there are more sweating in other parts, and even the body often sweats in a non -hot environment. The pathogenic mechanism is related to the function of the hill brain temperature control center [7].

A large number of sweat caused by sweat disease is likely to have adverse effects on life and body. But after the baby falls asleep, this sweating will generally stop [8].

references

[1] Wang Tinghuai. Physiology. 9th edition [M]. People's Health Press, 2018: 222-225. [2] Arlegui L, Smallcombe J W, FourNet D, et al. Body Mapping Patterns of Pre-PRILDRENS During Intermittent Exercise in a Warm Environment [J]. Eur J Appl PHYSIOL, 2021, 121 (12): 3561-3576.

[3] Wang Weiping. Pediatric science. 9th edition [M]. People's Health Press, 2018: 54-55.

[4] Rowland T. Theermoreguration During Exercise in the Heat in Children: OLD Concepts Revisite [J]. J Appl Physiot (1985), 2008, 105 (2): 718-724.

[5] Wailoo M P, Petersen s a, Whittaker H, et al. Sleeping Body Temperatures in 3-4 Month OLD Infants [J]. Arch Dis Child, 1989, 64 (4): 596-599. [6] ohshima y,, ohshima y,,Tamada y. Classification of Systemic and Localized SWEATING DISORDERS [J]. Curr Probl Dermatol, 2016, 51: 7-10.

: 103-107.

[8] Henning M A S, Thorlacius L, Ibler K S, et al. How to diagnose and Measure Primary Hyperhidrosis: A Systematic Review of the Literator [J]. CLIN AUTON Res, 2021 (4): 511-528: 511-528: 511-528:

Experts in this article

Zhang Kangzhong

Cooperative expert

The attending physician of the pediatric department of Wenzhou People's Hospital

Gao Yan

Review expert

Doctor of Medical College of Shanghai Jiaotong University

Member of the British Royal Pediatrician Association

Plan

Produced: MEI

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