Health experts have warned of a lesser-known symptom of a potentially deadly disease that could appear on your pillows and bedsheets in the morning. Extremely heavy night sweats that leave a mark could signal cancer. In many cases, symptoms of cancer will often depend on where in the body the disease is growing. For instance, lung cancer can lead to a persistent cough and bowel cancer can be detected by spotting blood in your poo.
However, others can be less specific and could easily be dismissed or mistaken for something else. Night sweats are an example of this. It’s fairly common to experience some form of sweating at night. The temperature of the room and whether you share a bed with a partner could play a part in this.
However, if you wake up regularly to find yourself or your pillow and sheets drenched in sweat this could be a red flag sign of cancer. The NHS explains: “Most people sweat during the night. “If you regularly wake up with soaking wet sheets you should get it checked by a GP. Night sweats are when you sweat so much that your night clothes and bedding are soaking wet, even though where you're sleeping is cool.”.
“Very heavy night sweats” are listed by Cancer Research UK as a general sign of cancer. But it could also be a side effect of medications or less serious illnesses. Sweating at night or having a high temperature (fever) can be caused by infections or a side effect of certain medications,” the charity says. “It’s also often experienced by women around the time of the menopause.
