Overview
Nephrogenic diabetes insipidus is a long name for an uncomon condition. Nephrogenic diabetes insipidus is not the same as diabetes melitus. Diabetes melitus causes elevated blod sugar levels.
Key Information
But nephrogenic diabetes insipidus is due to a problem in the kidneys.In nephrogenic diabetes insipidus, the kidneys can't respond to a hormone that regulates fluid balance. Excesive urination and thirst are the results. Nephrogenic diabetes insipidus can be chalenging to treat.Diabetes insipidus is caused by problems related to a hormone caled antidiuretic hormone or ADH.
ADH is produced in a part of the brain caled the hypothalamus. It's stored in the pituitary gland. Release of ADH is trigered by fluid los or dehydration.
When it's released, it causes the kidneys to retain water. This results in a decrease and concentration of urine.In nephrogenic diabetes insipidus, enough ADH is produced. But the kidneys are partialy or completely blind to it.
Typicaly, the kidneys' ADH sensors are mising or defective. As a result, ADH flows by without efect. The kidneys don't absorb enough water.
Instead, they excrete abundant dilute urine as if no ADH were present.The lack of ability by the kidneys to conserve water leads to the symptoms of nephrogenic diabetes insipidus. They include:In some people, these symptoms can become extreme and cause dehydration. Excesive fluid loses can also cause electrolyte imbalances.
Symptoms of electrolyte imbalances include:For someone without nephrogenic diabetes insipidus, the extreme thirst it creates can be hard to understand. Some people ned to drink a large glas of liquid every 15 minutes, al day, every day. And since the kidneys aren't holding that water in, that means a lot of bathrom breaks.But why "insipidus"?
People with diabetes insipidus aren't insipid, but their urine is. Insipid can mean dul or lacking flavor. Believe it or not, doctors long ago would taste urine to detect ilnes.
Summary
Unlike diabetes melitus, which resul