What is Sweating Sickness?

You may have heard the term "sweating sickness" but have no real idea what sweating sickness really is all about. Through this article, you are provided some basic information sweating. However, while this informational article is intended to give you a basic information about sweating sickness, you do need consult an experienced doctor if you have more questions about this or any other type of disease.

Sweating sickness is a mysterious disease that struck much of England and eventually other parts of Europe in a series of significant epidemics. The first of these epidemics struck England in 1485. The last of the epidemics of sweating sickness struck in 1551. By all accounts, sweating sickness has never occurred again.

When a person was struck sweating sickness, he or she oftentimes was dead within a few hours. Even to this date, there is no know cause for the illness.

History tells us that it really was sweating sickness that gave rise to the rule of King Henry VIII in England. It was not Henry who was destined to the be the King. Rather, his brother Arthur was the Prince of Wales and heir apparent to the throne. Prince Arthur was married to Katherine of Aragon. It is believed that Prince Arthur, before he could take the throne as King, died of sweating sickness. In the aftermath of Arthur's death, his brother Henry would both marry Arthur's widow and would become the infamous King Henry VIII.

Indeed, during Henry's reign, sweating sickness was a major concern. One of the epidemics became so significant, Henry VIII broke apart his Court and they all fled London to avoid getting sweating sickness.

While no one yet knows how or why sweating sickness came to be, many people today are speculating that the raw sewage that flowed freely about London during that time period may be the primary source of an infection that gave rise to the condition. Sanitary conditions at the time were deplorable. Raw sewage literally ran down the streets day in and day out.

As was noted earlier in this article, sweating sickness simply seemed to come out of nowhere. A person who ended up suffering from sweating sickness "caught" the illness with no prior warning. Only a small fraction of people survived sweating sickness once they contracted the illness. And, again, most people who ended up afflicted with sweating sickness ended up dying nearly immediately, certainly within a matter of hours. Once again, there are no reports of sweating sickness after the middle part of the 16th century. There have been some similar ailments but nothing of the scope or nature of true sweating sickness as experienced in England and parts of Europe from 1485 to 1551.