Night Sweats In Elderly
Night sweats in the elderly can occur due to many reasons. It has generally been seen that the elderly suffer from night sweats due to an underlying medical condition and at times due to some nutritional deficiency. |
Here are some of the reasons for night sweats in the elderly:
Tuberculosis is a lung disease that usually affects those who have a weak immune system. Hence, the elderly are susceptible to it. Based on several reports on geriatrics, it has been seen that those who are over 65 years of age and/or live in long term care facilities are more prone to tuberculosis. Along with the symptoms of constant cough, tiredness and loss of weight, night sweats are also seen in the patients of tuberculosis.
Another lung infection that can result in night sweats is pneumonia. It has been seen that seniors are more susceptible to bacterial pneumonia. The symptoms of this kind of pneumonia include night sweats, fever, chills, problems in breathing, tiredness, headache, confusion and cough with green or yellow sputum. Pneumonia is considered to a serious infection where the elderly are concerned and requires immediate medical intervention.
Many seniors have other medical conditions that require prescription as well as non-prescription medications. Many of these medications can cause night sweats as a side effect. For instance, medications like desipramine, nortriptyline, pilocarpine and supplements having zinc can all cause night sweats in the elderly.
Hodgkin lymphoma is a kind of cancer that is prevalent amount people less than thirty-five years of age and seniors who are more than fifty-five years of age. In this cancer, the immune system is affected. While this cancer is rare, along with night sweats, it also causes pain and inflammation of the lymph nodes, fever, cough, fatigue and loss of weight for no reason.
Another condition that is prevalent among the senior population is hyperthyroidism. In this health condition, the thyroid gland is overactive and produces too much of hormones. As a person ages, the risk of getting problems with the thyroid increases. With hyperthyroidism, the person is unable to tolerate heat and this can result in night sweats. Along with this, other signs of the disease are loss of weight, anxiety and heart palpitations.
If you have any of the above mentioned health disorders and you are in the 65+ age group, one of the symptoms will be night sweats. Hence, if you are suffering from night sweats, you should get a medical checkup done. The treatment for the health condition will help stem and stop the night sweats.
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Night sweats usually occur due to a medical condition. If the night sweats are caused due to the environment, then it is not a cause for concern. However, medical conditions bringing on the night sweats have to be treated. Thankfully, there are several night sweats natural remedies can be used. Some of them are listed below.