Sveda

Sveda (Sanskrit: स्वेद), commonly translated as sweat or perspiration, is the bodily fluid produced by the sweat glands. In humans, sweat is generated mainly by eccrine glands and, to a lesser extent, apocrine glands; it serves primarily to cool the body through evaporative heat loss and to excrete small amounts of metabolic wastes. The typical composition is largely water with electrolytes and trace organic compounds. Normal sweating occurs in response to heat, physical exertion, or fever and is modulated by the autonomic nervous system.

In Ayurvedic medicine, sweda is a recognized excretion that helps maintain thermal balance. It is carried by the swedavaha srotas, the channels that govern perspiration. An equilibrium of the doshas supports normal sweda; imbalances—especially of pitta—and blockages in swedavaha srotas can disrupt sweating, producing conditions such as excessive sweating (hyperhidrosis) or reduced sweating (hypohidrosis/anhidrosis).

Therapeutically, swedana refers to fomentation or other heat-based procedures used as a preparatory step in Panchakarma to loosen stagnated doshas and to facilitate the removal of waste. These procedures are chosen and applied with attention to contraindications and patient constitution.

In modern contexts, sveda is recognized as the physiological process of perspiration that participates in temperature regulation and detoxification. Abnormal sweating can reflect dermatological, endocrinological, or autonomic dysfunction and may require clinical assessment.

Sveda thus denotes both a normal physiological process and an important concept in traditional Indian medical theory and therapy.