Abnormal sweat
Do little more than be a slug on the couch, and the average guy still can lose up to 1.5 liters of sweat with no effort. Throw in a vigorous game of basketball, and his sweat glands could pump out as much as 3 liters in just an hour, according to a feature in the April issue of Men’s Health.
Although some sweat is normal, there are those who sweat excessively, especially when under stress, nervous or embarrassed. Now there’s a test to help determine if your sweat is simply excessive or whether it is caused by a more serious underlying problem. To find a specialist in hyperhidrosis, go to the database of the International Hyperhidrosis Society, a non-profit organization for people affected by excessive sweating, at sweathelp.org/english/cmn(underscore)physician(underscore)finder.asp.
Do sweat the details of your excessive perspiration if you experience the following:
* You sweat asymmetrically — for example, if one hand is wet and the other dry, or if your sweat pops up in random patches. This may indicate a neurological problem.
* When you sweat too much or too little at the site of an old but still painful arm or leg injury. This could be caused by an undiagnosed nerve disorder.
* You oversweat during sleep. This may result from Hodgkin’s disease, HIV, supplemental niacin or a side effect from antidepressant.
Sister study
Already, 33,000 American women have joined the 10-year observational Sister Study to help learn how the environment and genes affect their chance of getting breast cancer. But researchers at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences need 17,000 more volunteers to reach their target study group of 50,000 women by the end of 2007.
Participants must be women ages 35 to 74 who have sisters who were diagnosed with breast cancer, though the women who join the study must never have been diagnosed with breast cancer. The study requires only minimal commitment. Women who enroll will be asked to answer questions about their diet, job, hobbies and things they’ve been exposed to throughout their lives.
For more information on the study, go to sisterstudy.org.
The toll of strokes
Stroke is the No. 1 cause of adult disability and the No. 3 killer in the United States. Learn the latest information about stroke, its symptoms, treatments and prevention tips through a television special called “Brain Attack: A Stroke Survival Guide,” being produced by the National Stroke Association in partnership with NBC.
The one-hour show will air at 7 p.m. April 14 on WMAQ-Ch. 5 in Chicago.
hl2 style=”briefs(underscore)subhead”>See less of yourself
Dieters try everything they can to lose weight — pills, fad diets and a host of exercise programs. Yet they still have trouble dropping the pounds. A free Web site called Weightview.com offers dieters a chance to visualize how thin they will look at their goal weight.
To see your more svelte self, just upload a digital photo to the Web site. In less than 48 hours you’ll receive an e-mail with a transformed digital image showing how you’ll look.
