Diabetes insipidus: Causes frequent urination

Diabetes insipidus (DI) is a rare disease that causes frequent urination. The large volume of urine is diluted, mostly water. To make up for lost water, a person with DI may feel the need to drink large amounts and is likely to urinate frequently, even at night, which can disrupt sleep and, on occa­sion, cause bedwetting.

DI is part of a group of hereditary or acquired polyuria and polydipsia diseases. It is associated with inadequate arginine vasopressin (AVP) or antidiuretic hormone (ADH) secretion or renal response to AVP, resulting in hypotonic polyuria and a compensatory/underlying polydipsia.

DI should not be confused with diabetes mellitus (DM), which results from insulin deficiency or resistance leading to high blood glucose, also called blood sugar. DI and DM are unrelated, although they can have similar signs and symptoms, like exces­sive thirst and excessive urination. DI can be caused by two fundamentally different defects: Inadequate/impaired secretion of AVP from the posterior pituitary gland and impaired/insufficient renal response to ADH. AVP, a neurohypophyseal nonapeptide, regulates body water and osmotic homeostasis.

AVP (sometimes called Anti-diuretic hormone or ADH) is a hormone released from the rear most part of the pituitary gland (the posterior pituitary). This gland is located at the base of the brain, and is about 3 to 5 centimeters behind the bridge of the nose. AVP circulates in the bloodstream and acts on the kidneys to reduce the amount of water that is passed out in urine.
Diabetes insipidus: Causes frequent urination