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Abstract
Offspring of heroin-addicted gravidae frequently show narcotic withdrawal after birth. Many clinical signs are indicative of hyperactivity of of the autonomic nervous system, generalized hyperhidrosis being one example. Since many of these infants are prematurely born, their capacity for reflex sweating is very unusual. Still, they show generalized sweating with significantly greater frequency than do healthy premature controls and even mature neonates. In response to local stimulation tests with sudorific drugs (epinephrine, acetylcholine, and nicotine), a significantly greater proportion of these addicted premature babies show sweat gland responsiveness than do controls, and minimal effective doses are lower.
Accelerated development of sweating function in neonates ill with heroin withdrawal shows that the sweating deficit of healthy premature babies cannot be due to refractoriness of the sweat gland, but is, at least in part, attributable to immaturity of autonomic centers.