Frequent urination

Frequent urination is the need to urinate more often than every 2 hours or more than eight times in a 24 hours period.

Anything that causes bladder and urethral inflammation, even in the absence of infection, may cause frequent urination. Many factors might cause frequent urination. This include: high fluid intake, diuretics, diabetics, urinary tract infections UTI, prostate enlargement.

Uncontrolled diabetes mellitus is a potentially life-threatening condition that can present with frequent urination. This result from glucose-induce osmotic diuresis.

Frequent urination may be accompanied by other symptoms. Urgency is the sudden, sometimes uncontrollable need to urinate; this may be so strong that people leak urine before they reach the bathroom. Some people also have pain, burning, and/or a change in the color of the urine (cloudy or bloody).

Frequent urination that occurs at night is called nocturia. Frequent urination during the night is a common occurrence in patients with moderate to severe sleep apnea. While many patients attribute their frequent urination at night to excessive fluid intake in the evening or an enlarged prostate, it is more than likely due to indirect effects from the sleep apnea.
Frequent urination

Polydipsia: symptoms of diabetes mellitus

Polydipsia is the exaggerated ingestion of water; the thirst is due to the excessive water loss in the urine. Excessive thirst is best analyzed by the application of physiology. Thirst is cause by: intracellular dehydration and extracellular dehydration.

Increased desire for water may be due to a decreased intake, as in prolonged abstinence, vomiting of pyloric stenosis and intestinal obstruction, and diarrhea.

Diabetes mellitus is the single most common cause of polydipsia. Other common causes of polydipsia include sickle cell anemia and diabetes insipidus.

Urine production and water consumption (thirst) are controlled by interactions between the kidneys, pituitary gland and hypothalamus.

Usually, polydipsia occurs as a compensatory response to polyuria to maintain hydration. The patient’s plasma becomes relatively hypertonic and activates thirst mechanism.
Polydipsia: symptoms of diabetes mellitus