	Page 35 -- SPECIAL SKIN STRUCTURES (continued)

An eccrine sweat gland: most of the body's sweat production is the result of eccrine gland activity.
apocrine sweat gland

An apocrine gland, which produces little sweat but is responsible for the body's natural 'scent'.

Sweat glands

Sweat glands are found in almost every part of the skin, forming tiny coiled tubes embedded in the dermis or subcutaneous fat. There are two types of sweat gland: eccrine glands and apocrine glands.
Eccrine glands produce sweat - a mixture of water and salts. Sweat plays an important part in regulating the temperature of the body by cooling it by evaporation of water from the skin (this is different from the transepidermal water loss through the stratum corneum). It also provides a useful natural method of removing waste products (toxins) from the body. The tiny ducts of the eccrine glands pass through the dermis and epidermis and empty directly on to

the skin. They are found everywhere on the skin except on the lips and the glans penis.
Apocrine glands are formed from the same structure as the hair follicle and sebaceous glands. They produce a highly individual sexual scent, the production of which is dependent on the presence of sex hormones. The apocrine glands become very active with the onset of puberty. They are found particularly in the armpit and the genital area. The breasts are modified apocrine sweat glands.
Body odor is produced by micro-organisms ('germs') that grow in particularly moist areas of the skin, such as the armpit. They produce body odor by digesting sebum, but they can only work efficiently if water is present. Antiperspirants can be used to reduce the amount of sweat produced in the armpit, where there are many sweat glands, and stop the germs growing rapidly. The role of antiperspirants for body odor is discussed in Chapter 5, 'Skin care'.