Diabetes Insipidus - Symptom, Treatment and cause of Diabetes Insipidus

DESCRIPTION: Form of failure of the pituitary gland which lies in thecentre of the brain. Diabetes insipidus has nothing to do with thecommon sugar diabetes (diabetes mellitus). Diabetes means frequent andexcessive passing of urine, and it is this symptom that the victims ofboth diseases share.

CAUSE: An uncommon disease that may be triggered by a head injury, ordevelop slowly over many months because of a brain infection, tumour orstroke. It is caused by a failure of the pituitary gland to produce thehormone vasopressin that controls the rate at which the kidney producesurine. Without this hormone, the kidney constantly produces largeamounts of dilute urine.

SYMPTOMS: Patients have a huge urine output, are constantly thirsty,lose weight, develop headaches and muscle pains, become easilydehydrated, and may have an irregular heart beat.

INVESTIGATIONS: Diagnosed by a series of ingenious blood and urine testsafter exposing the patient to varying degrees of water intake.

TREATMENT: Controlled by regular injections of vasopressin which lastfrom one to three days. Milder cases can be treated with a nasal spraycontaining a synthetic form of vasopressin, but this only lasts for afew hours.

COMPLICATIONS: A rare variation of diabetes insipidus occurs when thekidney fails to respond to vasopressin, even when it is being producednormally by the pituitary gland.

PROGNOSIS: Cannot be cured, but usually well controlled. Some cases dosettle spontaneously, but most patients require life long treatment.