# Are Asians The Sweatiest 'Race'? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 12, 2009, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-asians-the-sweatiest-race/502791 "2009-07-12T22:34:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Surreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2009, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-asians-the-sweatiest-race/502791/1 "2009-07-12T22:34:18Z")
Is it true that people of Asian decent are several times more likely to suffer from excessive sweating (i.e. beyond what is needed for thermoregulation) than people from other walks of life? If so, how is “excessive” defined? Is it self-reported, or clinically measured? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2009, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-asians-the-sweatiest-race/502791/2 "2009-07-12T22:37:45Z")
I trust you’re looking for some kind of factual answer to this, so am moving it to GQ. twickster, Cafe Society mod ---
**Author:** ![Surreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2009, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-asians-the-sweatiest-race/502791/3 "2009-07-12T22:39:42Z")
Yes, sorry about that. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2009, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-asians-the-sweatiest-race/502791/4 "2009-07-12T22:48:10Z")
Cecil has a column on this: [Do Chinese lack sweat glands in their armpits?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2417/do-chinese-lack-sweat-glands-in-their-armpits) However, it addresses mostly apocrine sweat glands, not the eccrine glands that produce most of the moisture. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2009, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-asians-the-sweatiest-race/502791/5 "2009-07-12T22:48:28Z")
[http://www.healthline.com/galecontent/hyperhidrosis](http://www.healthline.com/galecontent/hyperhidrosis) ---
**Author:** ![Surreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2009, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-asians-the-sweatiest-race/502791/6 "2009-07-12T23:17:00Z")
Thanks. From that link: > [@](#): > > Hyperhidrosis of the hands and feet occurs 20 times more frequently in the Japanese. 20 times more frequently? Really? I wonder if the Japanese are just more likely to complain to their doctors about normal amounts of sweat. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2009, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-asians-the-sweatiest-race/502791/7 "2009-07-13T00:00:22Z")
> [@Surreal](#): > > I wonder if the Japanese are just more likely to complain to their doctors about normal amounts of sweat. Possible. It could also be a side effect of moving to a Western diet or just that they have (more prevalent) honest to gosh hyperhidrosis.