Night sweats in children

Night Sweats, Illness or Not?

If your child has night sweats, you should take a few things into consideration. First of all, before thinking that the reason for this condition is some kind of a serious disease, you should rule out other, more simple causes. Namely, make sure that the temperature in your child's room is not too high, or that the clothes he or she wears are not too warm when compared to the overall room temperature. Additionally, blankets may be too warm as well. All these, and many other, similar, causes may all lead to night sweats, without being serious, but rather caused by heat. However, if these causes are simply not present, and the child, besides nigh sweats, has difficulties breathing during his or her sleep, accompanied by a fever and snoring, you may have to take further steps since most probably, the cause is an underlying illness.

More Serious Causes Behind Night Sweats

There are numerous possible diseases, able to trigger night sweats in children. Firstly, there is the autoimmune disease. This condition involves tissue damage caused by one's immune system itself. Fever and blood in one's cough are clear signs of it.

Secondly, even though the child may be of normal or advanced intelligence, it may have suffered a brain injury before he or she was born. These covert injuries mostly express themselves through the child's motor skills, decreasing his or her abilities in this area. These problems usually go hand-in-hand with night sweats.

If the night sweats are usually accompanied with bed wetting you might take some kidney and gland dysfunctions into consideration. Also, a hyperactive thyroid gland can produce more hormones than needed, having this condition as a side-effect, along with fatigue and stomach pain. Additionally, gastric reflux may cause stomach acids to get into the child's mouth and esophagus, causing heartburn which can trigger night sweats in the process.

The worst case scenarios involve several serious illnesses. First of all, there is cancer. Namely, skin or liver cancer, as well as several other types, all manifest through night sweats at their early stage. Secondly, there is tuberculosis. This diseases attacks the lungs. The bacteria get settled there, weakening one's immune system and causing extremely high fevers and night sweats as well. Finally, your child might have contracted HIV or AIDS. If the frequent night sweats are accompanied with fevers and other conditions similar to flu, you should have your child tested since he or she might have this immunodeficiency virus.

All of the causes and symptoms mentioned above can be more serious than they look and manifest. Thus, in all cases of night sweats, it is best to seek medical advice in order to rule out any possible diseases or treat them timely.