Sweating is the means through which our body regulates its temperature. Our body is covered up of millions and millions of sweat glands. Our sweat or perspiration mostly contains water and sodium chloride (salt). It also contains substances like ammonia, calcium, phosphorous, potassium, chloride and lactic acid in trace amounts.

There are two types of sweat glands: eccrine sweat glands and apocrine sweat glands. These sweat glands are controlled by our sympathetic nervous system that supports most of our involuntary actions.

Sweating is highly essential for your body:

• Your body sweats due to heat, exercising and stressing yourselves.
• Sweating helps control body temperature and provides an emotional response to stimulus.
• Sweat is our body coolant. It helps us get rid of excess body heat.
• Anhidrosis or hypohidrosis is a condition where people do not sweat much.
• For those people who are unable to sweat, it becomes hazardous to exercise or be involved in strenuous activities.
• They are at a high risk of suffering from heat stroke. If not treated at the right stage it might prove fatal.
• Hypohidrosis could result due to skin injury, clogging of sweat glands, or as a side effect of medication.
• In some cases people are born without sweat glands.
• Injuries to the nerves, that help the functioning of the autonomous nervous system, can interfere with the activities of the sweat glands.

But excessive sweating is equally harmful. Excessive sweating is a medical condition known as hyperhidrosis. The sweating usually takes place in the palms, soles and underarms.