INFO - Diagnosing night sweats

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Diagnosing Night Sweats

American Family Physician

01 Mar 2003

ANTHONY J. VIERA, LCDR, MC, USNR, Naval Hospital ville,

ville, Florida

MICHAEL M. BOND, LT, MC, USNR, National Naval Medical Center,

Bethesda, land

SCOTT W. YATES, M.D., M.B.A., Dallas, Texas

Night sweats are a common outpatient complaint, yet literature on the

subject is scarce. Tuberculosis and lymphoma are diseases in which

night sweats are a dominant symptom, but these are infrequently found

to be the cause of night sweats in modern practice. While these

diseases remain important diagnostic considerations in patients with

night sweats, other diagnoses to consider include human

immunodeficiency virus, gastroesophageal reflux disease, obstructive

sleep apnea, hyperthyroidism, hypoglycemia, and several less common

diseases. Antihypertensives, antipyretics, other medications, and

drugs of abuse such as alcohol and heroin may cause night sweats.

Serious causes of night sweats can be excluded with a thorough

history, physical examination, and directed laboratory and

radiographic studies. If a history and physical do not reveal a

possible diagnosis, physicians should consider a purified protein

derivative, complete blood count, human immunodeficiency virus test,

thyroid-stimulating hormone test, erythrocyte sedimentation rate

evaluation, chest radiograph, and possibly chest and abdominal

computed tomographic scans and bone marrow biopsy. (Am Fam Physician

2003;67:1019-24. Copyright© 2003 American Academy of Family

Physicians.)

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Read the full article here:

http://www.aafp.org/afp/20030301/1019.html

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