ABSTRACT
In the context of our investigation on palmar sweating and hyperhidrosis we subjected 40 individuals (20 hyperhidrotic and 20 normal) to noise stimulation. The participants received ten startling auditory tones (square pulse of 400 ms duration, 1000 Hz frequency and 105-dB intensity) at random intervals varying from 15-55 s. Hyperhidrotic subjects, relative to controls, responded with greater amplitude and habituated later, but a subset of these subjects failed to respond at all to the tone. In this report, we focus on the finding that some hyperhidrotics were nonresponders. We discuss the consequences of this finding, both its implication for understanding hyperhidrosis and nonresponsiveness, as well as the complexity of sympathetic nervous system activation.
Subject(s)
Arousal/physiology , Hyperhidrosis/physiopathology , Sympathetic Nervous System/physiopathology , Acoustic Stimulation , Adult , Female , Galvanic Skin Response/physiology , Habituation, Psychophysiologic/physiology , Humans , Male , Reflex, Startle/physiology , Sweating/physiologyABSTRACT
We tested the hypothesis that palmar and plantar sweating has a thermoregulatory role and is mediated by the same thermoregulatory mechanisms that control sweating in the rest of the body surface. In a series of empirical tests involving 34 participants (five of whom exhibited palmar hyperhydrosis), the effect of high environmental temperature on sweating was examined. Wilcott's finding, that effects at the palm are of considerable magnitude, was confirmed only in subjects who were in a state of excitement. In relaxed subjects, the effects of high environmental temperature on palmar and plantar sweating was negligible. We conclude that the palms and soles do not directly participate in thermoregulation.
