Why does my sweat smell like cheese?

Question: In the last three months, my husband started sweating profusely when he was asleep. His sweat has a strong cheesy smell, and I can no longer tolerate it. His health is perfect. It is in his fifties. I am afraid this may be a sign of something serious. What would it be?

Answer: night sweats are very common and most often the cause is not serious. As cheesy smell as it is not unusual. Some Swiss researchers have studied, in fact, smell the sweat of men and women. Sweaty men tend to like the smell of cheese, while women sweaty smell like onions and grapefruit.

When a patient comes to me with a new night sweats, I will begin with a question about the temperature in the bedroom, and the number and type of blankets. Assuming that this is not an issue, I would next like to know if your spouse has a fever during the day, and if he loses weight, does not try. If he had not yet tested his temperature several times a couple of days, it should be.

If he has fever or weight loss, the cause may be serious. It could be an infection, it is not infectious inflammatory disorder, or cancer.

If he feels good during the day, and no fever or weight loss, the major cause is less likely. But some important opportunities to be considered:

Sleep apnea, especially if he snores is sleepy during the daytime, or both
Anxiety
A side effect of the drug. It should consider any medicines, herbs, or supplements he takes with the pharmacist
Low blood sugar (although this is unlikely if he has diabetes)

In overactive thyroid gland (hyperthyroidism). Usually there will be additional symptoms such as weight loss despite good appetite, rapid heartbeat, sweating during the day, and feeling nervous.
Other rare hormonal disorders

He should see a health care to discuss it at night sweating. At the same time, there are some things he may try to reduce sweats:

Store in a cool bedroom and open the window
Avoid spicy food, especially at night
Avoid alcohol for a while
Come on, towel off and change the bed sheets, and immediately as necessary

Quite often, no specific causes for night sweats found. In these cases, sweats, usually leave on their own.