BRIEF HISTORY OF THE STUDY OF SWEATING

Heat dissipation is vital for mammalian survival during exercise and heat stress. In humans, an important mode of heat dissipation occurs through evaporation of sweat secreted from eccrine glands. The first description of sweating dates back to the ancient Greeks. In Aristotle’s writings entitled Parts of Animals, as translated by Peck, he summarized their understanding of sweating as follows:

The blood vessels get progressively smaller as they go on until their channel is too small for the blood to pass through.

But although the blood cannot get through them, the residue of the fluid moisture, which we call sweat can do so, and this
happens when the body is thoroughly heated and the blood vessels are open widely at their mouth.

Although in the 1600s the basic sweat gland duct was described, the existence of a sweat gland was not accepted until the 1800s.

Furthermore, the importance of sweating for thermoregulation was not fully recognized until the 20th century.

Especially noteworthy is Kuno’s monograph published in 1934 as The Physiology of Human Perspiration, and later updated as “Human Perspiration” , which at that time provided the most comprehensive review of sweating. Subsequently, many researchers have studied the physiology of sweating toward a greater understanding of the mechanisms and controllers of sweating. The objective of this review is to outline these mechanisms and controllers of sweating, specifically during exercise and heat stress.