The Causes of Diabetes Insipidus

The causes of diabetes insipidus depend on which of the two primary forms of this condition you may have.
Diabetes insipidus, or (DI), is a rare ailment which happens when your kidneys cannot conserve water when they carry out their purpose of filtering your blood. The volume of water conserved usually is managed by the antidiuretic hormone (ADH), otherwise known as vasopressin.
The purpose of vasopressin is to control the amount of water within your body by regulating the quantity of urine the kidneys manufacture. If the amount of water in your system gets low, the pituitary gland emits vasopressin in order to conserve water and prevent the creation of urine.
But, for people with diabetes insipidus, vasopressin is not able to effectively manage your body’s water amount, which permits an excessive amount of urine to be created and excreted from the body. If one of the causes of diabetes insipidus is the result of a shortage of vasopressin, it is referred to as central diabetes insipidus.
Factors Causing Central Diabetes Insipidus
Three of the most typical reasons for central DI happen to be:
  • A brain tumor which causes damage to the pituitary gland or hypothalamus
  • Severe head trauma that injures the pituitary gland or hypothalamus
  • Complications as a result of brain surgery
In roughly 33% of all cases, no obvious explanation can be determined for the cause of this condition. It seems to be linked to the body’s immune system destroying healthy brain cells by accident. What’s causing the body’s immune system to attack these cells is unknown.
Some of the less common factors that result in central diabetes insipidus include:
  • Cancers which travel to the brain from other areas in the body, like the bone marrow or lungs
  • Brain damage brought on through a lack of oxygen, which could happen during a stroke
  • Infections like encephalitis and meningitis
An additional type of diabetes insipidus is known as nephrogenic DI. In this form of diabetes insipidus, ADH is generated in the correct amounts. However, your kidneys are not able to react to the ADH properly resulting in symptoms like frequent thirst as well as increased urine generation.
Factors Causing Nephrogenic Diabetes Insipidus
This condition permanently impacts your kidneys’ capacity to concentrate your urine. When genetics is one of the causes of diabetes insipidus it is called Nephrogenic DI. It generally affects males, although females may pass on the actual gene to their kids.
You can also get this form of DI from certain drugs or medical conditions.
The most frequent cause for acquired nephrogenic DI is the drug lithium. This medication is commonly taken to help remedy bipolar disorder. Long-term usage of the drug lithium can harm kidney cells making them unable to react to ADH.
More than 50% of individuals on long-term lithium treatments will develop this condition. Ending lithium treatment will most likely reestablish regular kidney functionality, although in numerous instances kidney damage is irreversible.
Additional factors that cause acquired nephrogenic DI can include:
  • Hypercalcaemia, caused by high levels of calcium in your blood. Too much calcium can harm your kidneys
  • Kidney disease
  • Ureteral obstruction, kidney damage due to blockage in the tubes connecting your bladder to your kidneys
Treatments
Treatment for DI is dependent upon which type you have. Since central DI is due to a deficiency of (ADH) treatment is typically taking desmopressin, which is a synthetic antidiuretic hormone.
With nephrogenic DI, your physician might recommend a low-salt diet plan in order to diminish the volume of urine your kidneys manufacture. You should also consume sufficient amounts of water to prevent dehydration.
These are the primary causes of diabetes insipidus, but there is still a lot that we have yet to discover.

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