Why does anxiety make our palms sweat?

[Guest guest]

> Why does anxiety make our palms sweat?

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> (answer below)

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> If your palms weren't so exposed to the surrounding air you

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> would probably have to rub them with deodorant every morning.

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> That's because you have more sweat glands there than anywhere

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> else. (And a phrase such as " I've got to hand it to you "

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> would take on a new and less friendly meaning.)

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>

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> Why did sweat glands proliferate on our palms? We can

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> probably blame evolution. There was a time, say tens of

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> thousands of years ago, when our ancestors didn't react to

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> anxiety by reaching for a pill. Instead, they grabbed the

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> limb of the nearest tree and started climbing for their

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> lives. In those days stress meant a big, hungry animal, not

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> car payments, corporate mergers, or choosing between a Merlot

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> or Cabernet to accompany a meat dish. Tree climbing was a

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> life-preserving skill enhanced by moist palms that helped one

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> get a grip on things.

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