What If You Couldn't Sweat Anymore?

well hey there brainy art looks like it's gonna be a hot one out there have you checked the heat index for today no or have you opened a window to see just how hot it is out there no have you looked to see what time of day it is if it's the peak height for the Sun it's gonna be hot out there oh boy judging by this heat we would say it's the worst possible day for you to forget your deodorant honestly we feel sorry for those around you ma'am if only you didn't sweat or couldn't sweat I bet you're thinking that would solve all your problems ah but here's the thing the inability to sweat may sound great on paper but it would truly be quite harmful in reality I mean sure not sweating would mean less stinkiness at the gym less of a need to shower daily and of course less dirty laundry that you would have to do but hold on there brainy yard I think it's about time you learned just how important sweat is because without it there'd be quite a few consequences to your body and believe it or not there'd even be deadly consequences so grab that water bottle cuz we are braving this heat and exploring what would happen if you couldn't produce even one bead of sweat as nutty as it may sound the inability to sweat is an actual medical condition in the medical community it is known as anhidrosis but it also goes by another name hypo hydrosis this condition can manifest in many ways meaning sometimes it is only small areas of the skin that are affected and other times it can be huge patches of skin or even your entire body that loses the ability to sweat there is no known percentage of the population that have anhidrosis but that's mainly because of the fact that some people may not even realize that they aren't sweating especially if it's only small parts of the body that are affected whoa whoa whoa we know what you're thinking no sweating this sounds amazing even better if it was just my armpits that were affected sign me up well we're here to tell you right now that this is not something you want to wish for not sweating can not only mean serious health risks but it can be life-threatening sweat is the body's way of keeping itself cool and not just from outside temperatures when your metabolism burns calories heat is produced and believe it or not this can overheat you you sweat all the time even if you don't notice it it's a constant process that keeps you healthy throughout your day as your body's temperature naturally fluctuates here's how it works when our bodies start to overheat our autonomic nervous system sends a message to the eccrine sweat glands and they let you know it's time to sweat as the beats of sweat start to evaporate they carry away some of the heat with it and you start to cool down it's a surprisingly effective process as even a pea-sized bead of sweat can cool about one liter of blood by one degree Fahrenheit and don't forget humans are especially good at sweating - it's what makes us such fantastic long-distance runners the ability to stay cool is an incredible survival tool one that has helped humanity to thrive which brings us to the dangers of not sweating people afflicted with anhidrosis are extremely limited when it comes to their ability to exercise or do any physical labor at all and if they find themselves in a situation where the temperature is particularly high well they could be in serious trouble real fast right off the bat they would find that they are at an extreme risk for contracting heatstroke and heat exhaustion these are very serious conditions that cause your body's way of dealing with the heat to shut down some signs that you could be experiencing these illnesses are a body temperature that is greater than 104 degrees Fahrenheit dry skin confusion and your skin would emanate heat kind of weird to think that an overheated body would actually start to produce heat on the skin huh if there was no one around to help the next phase would be going into a coma or potentially even death scaredy at brainy yard well good maybe you should be this is serious stuff and you absolutely should crack a sweat about not being able to sweat but before you decide to spend your entire life drinking water and staying indoors it's important to know just how someone can contract and hydrosis well this condition can either happen by itself or as a byproduct of another condition the most common way scientists have found an IDE Roces to occur is through damage to the skin so yes tattoos can indeed cause and hydrosis but it can also be inherited genetically or can happen because your pores are clocked yet another reason you should make sure you have a healthy shower schedule nerve damage is another cause of anhidrosis if you sustained an injury that damaged your nervous system it very well could affect the involuntary processes that your body naturally does throughout your day processes like perspiration which brings us to probably the most famous case of anhidrosis in the media right now and that would be none other than Prince Andrew who has publicly stated that he can't sweat due to trauma that he endured while in the army the thing is as crazy as this may sound or as bananas as it may seem that stress from being in the army could cause you not to sweat this very well could be the reason that Prince Andrew developed an hydrosis and here's how according to science Prince Andrew could have had a bad reaction to certain medications that are given to all servicemen and well now he just can't sweat it's also not impossible that his skin was subject to extreme trauma particularly something like the extreme cold and it was damaged in a way that anhidrosis occurred ah but the prince went on record to say that it was due to the high adrenaline levels his body would get from being shot at so how about this reason could having extended periods of high stress and adrenaline cause and heterosis the answer is yes the habituation of stressful situations can cause your sweat glands to not function properly if Prince Andrew was indeed our high levels of stress from being under gunfire for long periods of time this very well could have affected him in such a way that it would cause an hydrosis we feel for you your highness after all not being able to keep yourself cool sounds like it wouldn't be too hot in fact Prince Andrew's condition would be an awfully uncomfortable way to live day to day remember Prince Andrews body just like ours is always trying to maintain that sweet spot of 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit it's just the right temperature for all of us to work properly there's a window of about 8 degrees higher than that before things start to get really serious and this temperature is referred to as the critical thermal maximum gotta say that's a pretty cool name this threshold varies from person to person based on levels of hydration physicality and the person's individual level of acclamation to heat but once the internal temperature hits around that 107 degree mark hyperthermia would set in not to be confused with hypothermia which is when your body is far too cold hyperthermia is serious stuff the symptoms are muscle cramps fatigue red skin racing heart rate dizziness headache nausea vomiting and overall weakness if the body gets any hotter than this well it ain't looking good this is the level where permanent damage can occur but if caught in time thankfully it is very possible to fully recover it's serious stuff as heat related illnesses have caused over 9,000 deaths between 1979 and 2014 annually overheating claims more lives than hurricanes tornadoes floods lightning and earthquakes so how does someone treat anhidrosis well in many cases it may go away on its own but in many other cases you can't treat it if there was another condition that was causing it then doctors can treat that but many times the best thing to do is just to make sure you are always hydrated keep an eye on how hot it outside and make sure you have a buddy with you if you are going to spend long bouts of time in the heat that way if something goes wrong they can be there to drag you into the shade to keep you cool bring you some water or of course call 911 get to a doctor as soon as possible hey the buddy system saves lives what can we say so there you have it brainy art why you need to be able to sweat and frankly why you should be super thankful that you can even produce this salty coolant that keeps your body at a healthy temperature yes it's smelly yes it's gross yes it has certainly ruined a few first dates with some dramatically drenched pit stains but it is essential for humans to be able to exercise be outdoors for extended periods of time and also just keep ourselves cool and healthy throughout our day as we metabolize our food exercise and work be thankful you can sweat after all not all of us are as lucky I mean you could be like poor Prince Andrew wait a second that guy's a prince being like him wouldn't be bad [Music] [Music]

Channel: Brainiac

Views: 244,638

Rating: 4.8837132 out of 5

Keywords: Brainiac, sweat, pours, pour, water, heat, heat stroke, heat wave, faint, coma, overheated, hot, Prince Andrew, perspiration, animated story, animation, brainiac, brainiard, summer, gym, sauna

Id: 7W0aA_cKNqg

Length: 10min 23sec (623 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 29 2020