IMPAIRMENT OF SWEAT SECRETION IN MALNOURISHED INFANTS

[摘要] Severely malnourished African infants are often feverish during hot summer weather. To elucidate the cause of this phenomenon, malnourished infants and controls were studied under standard conditions of heat stress with regard to sweat secretion and rise of body temperature. There was a marked impairment in the function of the sweat glands in the malnourished infants and the mean body temperature rose higher than that of the controls. The derangement of the sweat secretion was not related to the extent of the nutritional oedema. There was no close correlation between impairment of sweat secretion and rise in body temperature. The possible reasons for these observations are discussed. It is suggested that dysfunction of the sweat glands in severe malnutrition is caused by a poor peripheral circulation.

[学科分类] 儿科学