Gustatory sweating results from a disruption of the auriculotemporal nerve pathways. Damage to the nerve may cause a misdirected
re-growth that results in parasympathetic innervation of sympathetic receptors and, therefore, facial sweating and flushing
with gustatory stimulation. Over the past 300 years, the history of gustatory sweating has included observations of typhus-induced
parotiditis, war injuries, and occupational accidents. Despite religious and personal persecution, Lucja Frey (1889–1943)
systematically investigated gustatory sweating. Following the discovery of a German World War II document regarding Lucja
Frey, an international committee was organized to research the history of gustatory sweating and of Dr. Frey's contributions
to the understanding of the syndrome. Twenty original scientific publications from 1700 to 1950 on gustatory sweating were
reviewed. Frey was the first to describe gustatory sweating as a disorder of both sympathetic and parasympathetic innervation.
She proposed novel pathologic and pharmacologic mechanisms to explain the syndrome. Subsequent discoveries, including the
work of André-Thomas in 1927, have provided a more complete understanding of gustatory sweating and the pathologic mechanism
of aberrant neuronal regeneration.
Key words gustatory sweating - auriculotemporal syndrome - women in medicine - females in medicine - autonomic nerve disorder - autonomic nerve dysfunction
Received: 25 May 2002, Accepted: 6 June 2002