Women more likely to seek help for sweating: study

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - Women with clammy handshakes are twice as likely to seek medical attention as men with sweaty palms, according to a new U.S. study.

Researchers from the Saint Louis University School of Medicine, Missouri, studied the records of 515 patients who sought treatment for excessive sweating and found about 67 percent of those seeking help were women.

Dr. Dee Anna Glaser told the 65th annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology that men were significantly more likely to seek treatment for facial sweating while women were more likely to seek help for excessive underarm sweating.

"Although the prevalence is the same for men and women, (this) study finds that women sought treatment much more frequently than men," said Glaser in a statement.

She said about three percent of the U.S. population, or about 7.8 million people, suffered from primary hyperhidrosis, an excessive sweating disorder with no known cause, which most commonly affects the palms, soles, underarms, face and scalp.

Glaser said an overwhelming majority of patients rated their condition at the top of a four point scale, describing it as intolerable and always interfering with their daily activities.

In addition, patients reported that stress, anxiety, heat and exercise were the most common aggravating factors.

Two factors that seemed to accompany hyperhidrosis were family history, with 30 percent to 65 percent of patients having a family history of the condition, and the age range of the first symptoms.

"If left untreated, hyperhidrosis can really inhibit the way people live their lives," added Glaser.