Sweating in people during hefty workouts or spending too much time in heat is a very common phenomenon. A recent study suggests that the sweating of a human body has nothing to do with his or her sex. Rather, it completely depends on the body size of the concerned person.
According to Medical News Today, the human body has an internal heat regulation system that produces heat and then releases it through sweating. Normal temperature in a human body varies from 36.5-37.5 degree Celsius, which is equal to 97.5-99.5 degree Fahrenheit. As the outside temperature increases, signals are sent to the brain's hypothalamus, known as body's thermostat. It keeps the inner temperature ideal according to the varying temperature by making adjustments physiologically. After working on a hot day, or an intense session at the gym, signals are sent by the skin's temperature receptors to the hypothalamus, which signals the body to cool off by producing sweat.
As per the study, it has been believed that human beings respond differently to rise in temperature according to their gender. The new research has negated that theory and has said that the body response to heat changes according to the ratio between body surface area and mass. Accordingly, bigger people sweat more to adjust the excess heat.
According to EurekAlert, sweating and increased circulation are the two main ways the body cools itself down. It completely depends on the body shape and size of an individual to determine which of the two phenomena are to be relied upon for heat loss. As per the study, smaller men and women having more surface area per kg of body mass are more inclined towards heat loss by increasing circulation and depends less on sweating.
The research involved 36 men and 24 women whose skin blood flow and sweating responses were looked into. They were taken through two trials, one involving light exercise and another one moderate. The trials were done at 28 degree Celsius and 36% humidity, considered ideal conditions for the body to reduce the extra heat caused during exercise and stop the body temperature from rising further via increasing sweating and blood flow to the skin. The trial found the same body temperature in all the participants irrespective of gender.
It has been long conceived that gender influences sweating during heat increase. The study has determined that heat loss in the human body is more dependent on the body mass and shape for regulating its temperature rather than the gender.
