What is Diabetes Insipidus?
Unlike other types of diabetes such as Diabetes Mellitus Diabetes Insipidus is a disease that is linked to the pituitary gland in the brain. When the word diabetes is mentioned most people will assume that we are speaking of Diabetes Mellitus (Sugar Diabetes). Diabetes Insipidus though is not caused by a lack of insulin or the lack of insulin regulation. Diabetes Insipidus happens when the pituitary gland does not make enough of the hormone ADH. Diabetes Insipidus can be a serious or even fatal disease if not caught and treated. The treatment may be ongoing for the rest of your life.
What causes Diabetes Insipidus?
Like all forms of diabetes no one knows exactly what causes the actual disease however they do know that people that have had other problems are prime candidates to develop Diabetes Insipidus.
If you have or have had any of the following you may develop Diabetes Insipidus:
* A brain aneurysm which is a weak spot in a blood vessel causing the artery to balloon out much like a weak spot on a tire causes a “bulge”
* Any type of brain infection
* A Tumor of the brain
* A Tumor of the Pituitary Gland
* Compulsive, excessive fluid intake
* Bleeding inside the skull
* Family history of Diabetes Insipidus
* Head Injury that may cause damage to the Pituitary Gland
* Kidney Disease
* Surgery on the Pituitary Gland sometimes causes a temporary type that lasts about 14 days
If you have the following signs or symptoms, you should ask your physician to do further testing for possible Diabetes Insipidus:
* Dry skin, especially the hands.
* Constipation
* Passing large amounts of extremely clear urine
* Terrible thirst especially for cold or iced fluids
What is the treatment?
The treatment depends more on what appears to be causing the problem. This is one place where the allopathic medical community agrees with the naturopathic medical community. Remove the cause and you treat the disease. This is the underlying theme to most naturopathic treatments, where as the allopathic community is more a symptom treatment practices.
> Complete medical history and exam
> Basic Blood and Urine tests
> Computerized Tomography scan (CT scan)
> Daily weights to determine fluid loss or gain
> Dehydration test
> Intake and output measurements (I and O)
> Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
> Surgery. If a tumor is involved you may need brain surgery to remove it.
Disclaimer:
The suggestions and/or techniques described in this report are for informational purposes only. Contact the following groups for more information:
* American Association of Diabetes Educators
American Association of Diabetes Educators
100 West Monroe Street, Suite 400
Chicago, IL 60603-1901
Phone: 1-800-338-3633
Web Address: http://www.aadenet.org
* American Diabetes Association
1701 North Beauregard Street
Alexandria, VA 22311
Phone: 1-800-342-2383
Web Address: http://www.diabetes.org
* National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse
1 Information Way
Bethesda, MD 20892-3560
Phone: 1-800-860-8747
Web Address: www.diabetes.niddk.nih.gov
Annually the American Diabetes Association has a fundraiser bicycle ride called the “Tour De Cure” I often ride in this event which raises money to help with research to combat diabetes.
Some Facts about Diabetes Insipidus
When the kidneys are unable to conserve water as they perform their function of filtering blood, there can appear an uncommon condition called diabetes insipidus. ADH, also called vasopressin is the hormone that controls the amount of water conserved. This hormone is produced in the hypothalamus, a region of the brain, and then is stored and released from the pituitary gland, a small gland at the base of the brain.
When a lack of ADH causes diabetes insipidus, we can say we are dealing with a condition called central diabetes insipidus. The condition called nephrogenic diabetes insipidus appears when diabetes insipidus is caused by failure of the kidneys to respond to ADH. We must mention that diabetes insipidus has as major symptoms excessive urination and extreme thirst.
It is known that as a result of the damage to the hypothalamus or pituitary gland after a surgery, infection, tumor, or head injury, there can appear central diabetes insipidus.
This diabetes is rare, but even so, it is more common than nephrogenic diabetes insipidus.
Diseases of the kidney like polycystic kidney disease and the effects of certain drugs like lithium, amphotericin B, demeclocycline can also cause nephrogenic diabetes insipidus.
Usually, diabetes insipidus can show symptoms like excessive thirst- which can be intense or uncontrollable and may involve a craving for ice water- and excessive urine volume.
As signs and tests we can mention urinalysis, MRI of the head, and in what concerns the urine output, in central diabetes insipidus is suppressed by a dose of ADH, and in nephrogenic diabetes insipidus not suppressed by a dose of ADH.
Vasopressin, which can be administered as either a nasal spray or tablets can control central diabetes insipidus. Unfortunately, this is not effective for patients with nephrogenic diabetes insipidus.
If nephrogenic diabetes insipidus is caused by medication, it is important to quit that medication because this will lead to recovery of normal kidney function. In what concerns hereditary nephrogenic diabetes insipidus, this is treated with fluid intake to match urine output and drugs that lower urine output.
We can mention dry skin, dry mucous membranes, fever, rapid heart rate, height loss, fatigue, lethargy, headache, muscle pains, and other. It is important to know that if treated, diabetes insipidus does not cause severe problems or reduce life expectancy.
Unlike other types of diabetes such as Diabetes Mellitus Diabetes Insipidus is a disease that is linked to the pituitary gland in the brain. When the word diabetes is mentioned most people will assume that we are speaking of Diabetes Mellitus (Sugar Diabetes). Diabetes Insipidus though is not caused by a lack of insulin or the lack of insulin regulation. Diabetes Insipidus happens when the pituitary gland does not make enough of the hormone ADH. Diabetes Insipidus can be a serious or even fatal disease if not caught and treated. The treatment may be ongoing for the rest of your life.
What causes Diabetes Insipidus?
Like all forms of diabetes no one knows exactly what causes the actual disease however they do know that people that have had other problems are prime candidates to develop Diabetes Insipidus.
If you have or have had any of the following you may develop Diabetes Insipidus:
* A brain aneurysm which is a weak spot in a blood vessel causing the artery to balloon out much like a weak spot on a tire causes a “bulge”
* Any type of brain infection
* A Tumor of the brain
* A Tumor of the Pituitary Gland
* Compulsive, excessive fluid intake
* Bleeding inside the skull
* Family history of Diabetes Insipidus
* Head Injury that may cause damage to the Pituitary Gland
* Kidney Disease
* Surgery on the Pituitary Gland sometimes causes a temporary type that lasts about 14 days
If you have the following signs or symptoms, you should ask your physician to do further testing for possible Diabetes Insipidus:
* Dry skin, especially the hands.
* Constipation
* Passing large amounts of extremely clear urine
* Terrible thirst especially for cold or iced fluids
What is the treatment?
The treatment depends more on what appears to be causing the problem. This is one place where the allopathic medical community agrees with the naturopathic medical community. Remove the cause and you treat the disease. This is the underlying theme to most naturopathic treatments, where as the allopathic community is more a symptom treatment practices.
> Complete medical history and exam
> Basic Blood and Urine tests
> Computerized Tomography scan (CT scan)
> Daily weights to determine fluid loss or gain
> Dehydration test
> Intake and output measurements (I and O)
> Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
> Surgery. If a tumor is involved you may need brain surgery to remove it.
Disclaimer:
The suggestions and/or techniques described in this report are for informational purposes only. Contact the following groups for more information:
* American Association of Diabetes Educators
American Association of Diabetes Educators
100 West Monroe Street, Suite 400
Chicago, IL 60603-1901
Phone: 1-800-338-3633
Web Address: http://www.aadenet.org
* American Diabetes Association
1701 North Beauregard Street
Alexandria, VA 22311
Phone: 1-800-342-2383
Web Address: http://www.diabetes.org
* National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse
1 Information Way
Bethesda, MD 20892-3560
Phone: 1-800-860-8747
Web Address: www.diabetes.niddk.nih.gov
Annually the American Diabetes Association has a fundraiser bicycle ride called the “Tour De Cure” I often ride in this event which raises money to help with research to combat diabetes.
Some Facts about Diabetes Insipidus
When the kidneys are unable to conserve water as they perform their function of filtering blood, there can appear an uncommon condition called diabetes insipidus. ADH, also called vasopressin is the hormone that controls the amount of water conserved. This hormone is produced in the hypothalamus, a region of the brain, and then is stored and released from the pituitary gland, a small gland at the base of the brain.
When a lack of ADH causes diabetes insipidus, we can say we are dealing with a condition called central diabetes insipidus. The condition called nephrogenic diabetes insipidus appears when diabetes insipidus is caused by failure of the kidneys to respond to ADH. We must mention that diabetes insipidus has as major symptoms excessive urination and extreme thirst.
It is known that as a result of the damage to the hypothalamus or pituitary gland after a surgery, infection, tumor, or head injury, there can appear central diabetes insipidus.
This diabetes is rare, but even so, it is more common than nephrogenic diabetes insipidus.
Diseases of the kidney like polycystic kidney disease and the effects of certain drugs like lithium, amphotericin B, demeclocycline can also cause nephrogenic diabetes insipidus.
Usually, diabetes insipidus can show symptoms like excessive thirst- which can be intense or uncontrollable and may involve a craving for ice water- and excessive urine volume.
As signs and tests we can mention urinalysis, MRI of the head, and in what concerns the urine output, in central diabetes insipidus is suppressed by a dose of ADH, and in nephrogenic diabetes insipidus not suppressed by a dose of ADH.
Vasopressin, which can be administered as either a nasal spray or tablets can control central diabetes insipidus. Unfortunately, this is not effective for patients with nephrogenic diabetes insipidus.
If nephrogenic diabetes insipidus is caused by medication, it is important to quit that medication because this will lead to recovery of normal kidney function. In what concerns hereditary nephrogenic diabetes insipidus, this is treated with fluid intake to match urine output and drugs that lower urine output.
We can mention dry skin, dry mucous membranes, fever, rapid heart rate, height loss, fatigue, lethargy, headache, muscle pains, and other. It is important to know that if treated, diabetes insipidus does not cause severe problems or reduce life expectancy.
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