Not all diabetes has to do with sugar. After all, what is diabetes insipidus?
A diabetes mellitus – known to many as type 1 and type 2 diabetes – gets all the attention due to its increasing global prevalence and its link to lifestyle and autoimmunity.
As for its lesser-known relative – diabetes insipidus – silently affects hundreds of thousands of people around the world, but is a completely different condition, unrelated to blood sugar.
Still, both forms share the same defining symptom: excessive urination.
In the most familiar diabetes mellitussugar builds up in the blood because the body either does not produce enough insulin, or cannot use it properly. When this happens, excess sugar passes into the urine, and this sugar pulls water from the body with it.
People with diabetes may notice that they need to urinate more frequently and in larger quantities than usual. Sometimes the urine may even have a sweet smell. Legend has it that Hippocrates, the “father of medicine”, used to test his patients’ urine to make a diagnosis.
What is diabetes insipidus?
O diabetes insipidus is very different from diabetes mellitus. As already mentioned, it has nothing to do with blood sugar.
The problem is rather a hormone called arginine vasopressin (AVP)also known as antidiuretic hormone (ADH), which normally helps the body to control the amount of water you retain or lose.
This chemical messenger, produced by the pituitary gland (or pituitary gland), located at the base of the skull, acts as the body’s water conservation system.
When it is necessary to retain fluids – for example, in situations of dehydration – AVP tells the kidneys to reabsorb water instead of eliminating it through urine.
Sometimes this system fails and that’s where the drama comes.
Without enough AVP, or when the hormone doesn’t work properly, the kidneys lose the ability to conserve water. No matter how much you drink, you continue constantly thirsty and dehydratedproducing large volumes of pale, dilute urine.
The problem is in the production of AVP. The hormone is actually produced in a region of the brain called the hypothalamus, before being transported to the pituitary gland, where it is released.
When thirst gets out of control
As explained by , there are several types of diabetes insipidus, but perhaps the most intriguing of all is dipsogenic diabetes insipidusin which the thirst center in the brain collapses.
Located in the hypothalamus, this control center can be damaged by tumors, trauma or infections, leading to a insatiable desire to drink water.
Excessive fluid consumption then suppresses AVP production, creating a vicious cycle. Dangerously, this can dilute sodium in the blood, causing headaches, mental confusion and even seizures.
Symptoms of this condition may overlap with those of psychogenic polydipsia, where mental illnesses – particularly schizophrenia – lead to compulsive water drinking. The consequences can be serious, as in a documented case in which a young patient suffered complications after consuming an impressive 15 liters of water per day.
Although it is often said that we should drink more water to prevent dehydration, constipation, kidney stones, among others, there is clearly a dangerous level. Sustained or unexplained consumption of large amounts of water is not only toxic to the body, it can be a sign of an underlying health problem.
Diabetes insipidus reminds us that the term diabetes encompasses more than blood sugar problems. This other type of diabetes may be less common, but for those affected, the consequences of leaving the condition untreated can be serious.
Anyone who experiences persistent thirst, excessive water consumption and frequent urination should seek medical assistance immediately. The cause could be sugar, hormones, or something else entirely.
