Image: © iStockphoto.com/Arvid Emtegren
About This Quiz
Sweating is yet another sometimes embarrassing -- but totally unavoidable -- fact of life. Find out how sweat is made and unusual facts about sweat with this quiz.
The average person has around 2 million sweat glands.
fact
fiction
almost fact: It's more like 2.6 million.
Yes, 2.6 million is the magic number.
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Sweat glands are distributed over the entire body -- except for the lips, nipples and external genital organs.
fact
There are only three areas that don't sweat -- the soles of your feet do have sweat glands.
fiction
almost fact: The soles of your feet don't have sweat glands, either.
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The sweat glands are in the layer of skin called the epidermis.
fact
fiction
almost fact: They're actually a couple of layers down, in the dermis.
The dermis is where sweat glands are -- along with hair follicles and nerve endings.
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The part of the sweat gland called the tubule is what connects the gland to the pores.
fact
fiction
Both options are wrong. The duct carries sweat from the gland to the pores.
almost fact: It's called the tunnel.
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Nerve cells from the sympathetic nervous system connect to sweat glands.
fact
Sweat glands are connected to the sympathetic nervous system, which is why you can start to sweat if you're nervous or stressed.
fiction
almost fact: It's nerve cells from the digestive system that connect to sweat glands.
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A sweat test, which measures the amount of salt in sweat, is used to diagnose Parkinson's disease.
fact
fiction
almost fact: It's a test for cystic fibrosis.
This test is given to babies who are suspected of having cystic fibrosis -- people with cystic fibrosis have two to five times the normal amount of salt in their sweat.
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The maximum amount of sweat the average person can produce is about a pint an hour -- if you're not adapted to a hot climate.
fact
fiction
Nope, the average person can produce a liter of sweat per hour.
almost fact: The maximum hourly sweat is about a cup.
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If you move to a hot climate, it will take you only about six weeks to start producing two to three liters of sweat per hour.
fact
Yep, in only six weeks you'll double -- or triple -- your sweat production if you move to, say, the Arizona desert.
fiction
almost fact: It will probably take you more like three months.
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Sweat itself doesn't smell -- it starts to stink only when it mixes with bacteria on your skin.
fact
fiction
almost fact: To be more specific, sweat from the eccrine glands never smells -- it's sweat from the apocrine glands that mixes with bacteria and stinks.
Yes, it's sweat from the apocrine glands, and bacterial partners, that are the culprit for your B.O.
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Sweat cools you off more efficiently when the air is dry.
fact
When it's humid, there's already so much moisture in the air that your sweat won't be able to evaporate from your skin. On a dry day, the sweat will evaporate more easily, leaving you feeling a lot cooler.
fiction
almost fact: You'll actually cool off better on a humid day.
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© iStockphoto.com/Arvid Emtegren
