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Diabetes insipidus
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In diabetes insipidus the kidney cannot concentrate urine. The result is that you may pass far more urine than normal and feel a thirst that never goes away, called polydipsia.
What fails is antidiuretic hormone, also called vasopressin: the signal that tells the kidney to hold on to water. It can fail in two places. In one case the pituitary, the gland that releases it, sends less hormone. In the other the hormone arrives, but the kidney responds less to it. It is a message that never gets sent, or a message that arrives and no one acts on.
Despite the name, this is not the same as diabetes mellitus, the sugar one. Both increase thirst and the amount of urine, but they are unrelated: here blood glucose is normal.
In brief
In diabetes insipidus the kidney cannot concentrate urine: a person may pass far more urine than normal and feel constant thirst, called polydipsia.
It happens because the pituitary releases less antidiuretic hormone, also called vasopressin, or because the kidney responds less to it.
It is a message that never gets sent, or a message that arrives and no one acts on.
It is not the same as diabetes mellitus: both increase thirst and urination, but they are unrelated, and here blood glucose is normal.
Sources (2)
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney DiseasesDiabetes Insipidus, NIDDK
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingArginine Vasopressin Disorder (Diabetes Insipidus), StatPearlsPublished
This page explains the topic in general terms; it does not tell anyone what treatment to follow.
Updated