ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Sweat diagnostics

Sweat diagnostics is like giving your body a check-up by examining the sweat you produce. Sweat is a liquid that comes out of small glands in your skin when you get hot, do exercise, or feel stressed. Scientists can use special tools to collect and analyze your sweat to get information about your health.

Think of sweat diagnostics like a message from your body - it can tell doctors and scientists a lot about what is going on inside you. For example, some diseases change the amounts of certain chemicals and minerals in your sweat, so by analyzing your sweat, a doctor or scientist can tell if you might have a disease like diabetes or cystic fibrosis.

When you visit a doctor for a sweat diagnostic test, they will have you exercise a little to get your sweat flowing. Then, they will put a small patch or tube on your skin to collect some of your sweat. After that, they will examine the chemical make-up of your sweat to see if there are any signs of health problems.

Overall, sweat diagnostics is a pretty simple test that your doctor can use to learn more about your body and potentially diagnose health issues. It’s kind of like giving your body a report card to make sure everything is working as it should be.