Looking at the case of diabetes insipid, this is a situation whereby the body loses too much water through urination, causing a significant risk of dangerous dehydration as well as a range of other illnesses and conditions. Diabetes insipidus patients produce excessive amounts of urine, resulting in frequent urination and thirst.
This disease takes two main forms: Nephrogenic diabetes insipidus and central or neurogenic diabetes insipidus. Central diabetes insipidus usually occurs when the pituitary gland fails to secrete the hormone vasopressin, which controls bodily fluids. In nephrogenic diabetes insipidus, vasopressin secretion is normal, but the kidneys do not normally respond to the hormone. Diabetes insipidus affects roughly 1 in every 25,000 people around the globe.
Below are some of the key points about diabetes insipidus:
- Diabetes insipidus is a situation when the body fails to properly regulate water balance, causing excessive urination.
- Excessive production of dilute urine in the diabetes insipidus is commonly accompanied by increased thirst and high water intake.
- Diabetes insipidus can cause dangerous dehydration if a person does not increase water intake, like when a patient cannot communicate thirst or help themselves.
- As diabetes insipidus is not a usual condition, diagnosis involves the exclusion of other common possible explanations for symptoms.
Some Symptoms To Note
- The need to urinate in large volumes wake people with diabetes insipidus.
- The major symptom of all cases of diabetes insipidus is regularly needing to pass high volumes of diluted urine.
- The second common symptom is polydipsia or excessive thirst.
- In this condition, results from the loss of water through urine, the thirst prompts the person with diabetes insipidus to drink large volumes of water.
- The need to urinate disturb sleep. The amount of urine passed each day can be anywhere between 3 liters and 20 liters, and up to 30 liters in cases of central diabetes insipidus
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Another secondary symptom is dehydration as a result of the loss of water, especially in children who can not be able to communicate their thirst. Children can become listless and feverish, experience vomiting and diarrhea, and can show delayed growth.
Diabetes insipidus usually becomes a serious problem only for people who can not replace the fluid which is lost in the urine. Access to water and other fluids can make the condition manageable.
In case there is a treatable underlying cause of the high urine output, like diabetes mellitus or drug use, addressing this could help resolve the diabetes insipidus.