Urine without flavor. That is the literal meaning of the term diabetes insipidus

Question

Urine without flavor. That is the literal meaning of the term diabetes insipidus, a disorder in which the mechanism that concentrates urine is inadequate or absent. The main symptoms of this rare disease are intense thirst and copious excretion of dilute urine. (A) Why does this disease produce each of these symptoms? (you must explain the mechanism for both thirst and increased urine production) (B) Explain why a traumatic head injury may cause this disease. (C) How is this disease similar to diabetes mellitus? How is it different? A lactose-intolerant subject couldn't resist consuming a pint of Ben & Jerry's ice cream. Within hours, this individual developed diarrhea and a severe case of flatulence. (A) What is lactose intolerance? (B) Given your understanding of this condition, explain how eating ice cream would result in the described symptoms. (C) Describe the changes in fluid osmolarity and acid-base balance that might accompany this condition.

Explanation / Answer

A) The diabetes insipidus is caused by the insufficient production of a hormone vassopressin (ADH) produced by brain. The responsibility of this hormone is to retain water in kidney to concentrate urine. If there is no enough hormone, more water will be lost from body through urine which leads to thirst or dehydration. The thirst prompt the patient to drink more amount of water, which will continue to loss to urine , and make the urine diluted from the concentrated condition. This is the condition of excess diluted urine excretion.

B) The diabetes insipidus is caused by the insufficiency of hormone vasopressin or Antidiuretic hormone (ADH). This hormone is produced in the hypothalamus and transported and stored in the pituitary gland. The traumatic head injury may leads to the disruption to hypothalamus or pituitary gland or it may interrupt blood supply to the brain resulting in the decreased release of hormone ADH resulting in diabetes insipidus.

C) The diabetes mellitus and diabetes insipidus are entirely different disease. The only similarity is in the symptoms. Both condition leads to excessive urination,and thirst.

The diabetes mellitus is due to the insulin deficiency or resistance leading to high blood glucose level. But diabetes insipidus is results from the dificiency of hormone called vasopressin, leads to the lack of water retaining capacity of kidney.

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