Diabetes Insipidus is a chronic disease in which the body loses a lot of its fluids through constant urination leading to concerning risks of dehydration as several other diseases and complications related to this disease.
Those who suffer from Diabetes Insipidus tend to produce alarming amounts of urine which are the direct result of constant urination and thirst. Something to bear in mind is that the causes of these symptoms are not the same as type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
This disease is further categorized as Nephrogenic Diabetes Insipidus and Neurogenic Diabetes Insipidus.
The latter occurs when the pituitary gland fails to secrete a hormone called vasopressin which is the responsible for the regulation of bodily fluids.
For the first kind, the secretion of the vasopressin hormone is normal, but the kidneys are unable to respond correctly to the hormone as they should.
In the United States alone 1 in 25000 people suffers from Diabetes Insipidus.
There are plenty of information out there regarding Diabetes Insipidus but some key points about it are:
– Diabetes Insipidus is a disease that affects our body ability to regulate and control water balance, resulting in constant urination.
– As the urination increases so do the liquids intake on our part.
– Diabetes Insipidus can lead to dangerous levels of dehydration if the patient does not increases the levels of liquids intake.
– The condition of Diabetes Insipidus is not , and often the proper diagnosis of it will involve the exclusion of other conditions with similar symptoms.
The main symptom of Diabetes Insipidus is the high levels of urination, and the second most common symptom is excessive thirst or “polydipsia”.
This results in a person suffering from Diabetes Insipidus losing large amounts of water through the urine, prompting the patient to drink large amounts of water.
The constant need for urination will often disturb sleeping patterns. The amounts of urine passed each day can be anything from 3 liters to 30 liters in most grave cases.
A secondary symptom involving Diabetes Insipidus is dehydration due to the increasing loss of water, this is particularly worrisome in young children who can’t sometimes communicate their thirst. The children suffering from this condition will often turn listless and feverish, as well as experiencing vomiting and diarrhea, and in the most extreme cases delayed growth.
Extreme dehydration leads to more complications especially hypernatremia when the sodium concentration in the blood increases so high due to the low water retention in our bodies. Important to remember that even our cells lose water.
Hypernatremia may lead to neurological complications, like the overactivity of the brain and nerve muscles, seizures, confusion and in the worst case scenario coma.
If left untreated Diabetes Insipidus can permanently damage the kidneys.