Differences Between Diabetes Mellitus and Diabetes Insipidus
Although these conditions have “diabetes” in their names and share some symptoms, they are very different from each other. The difference is in how the diseases are diagnosed and treated. In diabetes insipidus, your body doesn’t make enough of a hormone called antidiuretic hormone (ADH, or vasopressin). This hormone helps the kidneys conserve fluids.
Diagnosis of Diabetes Mellitus
In diabetes mellitus, your body doesn’t make enough insulin to keep blood sugar (glucose) levels stable. This results in too much sugar in the blood, which makes you feel thirsty and causes other symptoms. It’s most common in people over 50, but it can affect anyone. It can be caused by genetics, family history, being overweight, and certain infections.
In this condition, your kidneys create a lot of secretions that contain water and sugar. This leads to constant urination, making you thirsty. You may also have a lot of pee that looks cloudy or foamy. Diabetes mellitus is usually diagnosed with a blood test that measures your glucose level after you’ve fasted for a few hours. A urine sample is also usually taken to check how concentrated or dilute your pee is.
The first step in diagnosis for both types of diabetes is seeing a health care professional. Your doctor will ask you about your symptoms and your health history. He or she will also do a physical exam and order some tests. These include:
Most of the time, diabetes mellitus is caused by problems with the pancreas or your blood sugar. Diabetes insipidus, on the other hand, has nothing to do with your pancreas or your blood sugar. It’s a problem with a hormone called vasopressin, or antidiuretic hormone (ADH). It’s produced by specialist nerve cells in a part of your brain called the hypothalamus and stored in a gland called the pituitary gland. When your kidneys lose too much water, they produce ADH to help your body retain water.
You may have diabetes insipidus if there’s not enough ADH being made by your hypothalamus or pituitary gland. You may also have it if you have a head injury, surgery, or a tumor in your head or neck. Or, you may have nephrogenic diabetes insipidus if your kidneys don’t respond to ADH and are unable to hold onto water.
Both types of diabetes insipidus can be treated with a drug called desmopressin, which is synthetic ADH. It’s taken as a pill, injection, or nasal spray. You can also control your symptoms by eating a low-salt diet and drinking plenty of fluids.
Symptoms of Diabetes Mellitus and Diabetes Insipidus
In diabetes mellitus, abnormally high blood glucose levels are caused by the body not making enough insulin to transfer sugar from the blood into cells and tissues. This results in a build-up of sugar in the bloodstream, which leads to many different symptoms such as excessive thirst and frequent urination. Diabetes insipidus, on the other hand, has nothing to do with blood sugar levels and instead affects how much water the kidneys produce.
The condition occurs when the kidney tubules do not respond to a hormone called antidiuretic hormone (ADH). Normally, ADH is released when the amount of water in the body drops. It helps the kidneys conserve water by telling them to make urine more concentrated and prevents dehydration. But in diabetes insipidus, the kidney tubules do not respond or they cannot keep up with ADH production. There are several types of diabetes insipidus, including central and nephrogenic forms. The most common form is nephrogenic diabetes insipidus, which affects children and young adults.
It’s also possible to develop gestational diabetes insipidus during pregnancy, though it usually goes away once the child is born.
Symptoms of diabetes insipidus are similar to those of diabetes mellitus, except they’re associated with excessive water loss. If you think you have this condition, your doctor will ask you how often and when you go to the bathroom, as well as how much and what type of fluids you drink. They will also do a urinalysis to see how concentrated or diluted your urine is. They may also do a water deprivation test, which involves withholding water for a short period of time so your doctor can observe how quickly you get dehydrated.
Treatment for diabetes mellitus involves following a healthy diet, taking oral medication and in some cases injecting insulin. Treatment for diabetes insipidus depends on the cause, but may include medications such as desmopressin and vasopressin analogs. Some people with central diabetes insipidus, which is the most common type, might benefit from having a brain tumor or growth removed. In addition, if you have nephrogenic Diabetes Insipidus, treating the condition that causes it can help ease your symptoms.
Treatment of Diabetes
Diabetes mellitus, which causes abnormal levels of blood sugar in the body, is treated with insulin and other diabetes medications. People with diabetes insipidus can be treated with a medication called desmopressin, or DDAVP. It works by regulating the amount of water that the kidneys reabsorb while they are filtering waste out of the blood. The symptoms of diabetes insipidus are caused by low levels of the hormone antidiuretic hormone (ADH), or vasopressin, which controls how much water the kidneys pass out in pee. ADH is produced by the hypothalamus and stored in the pituitary gland. When the body is dehydrated or losing blood pressure, ADH is released and tells the kidneys to hang onto water instead of releasing it in urine. In diabetes insipidus, the hypothalamus or pituitary gland doesn’t produce enough ADH, or the kidneys don’t respond to ADH by concentrating urine. The result is that you pee large amounts of watery, dilute, light-colored urine.
Unlike diabetes mellitus, which requires regular monitoring and treatment with medication, the symptoms of diabetes insipidus can be controlled by drinking enough fluids. However, people with diabetes insipidus may need to carry a bottle of water with them at all times because they tend to be more prone to dehydration than others. This is especially true when the weather is hot or when they exercise.
A health care professional can diagnose diabetes insipidus by asking about your symptoms and conducting a few simple tests. A sample of your urine will be tested to see if it has a high concentration of water and a low concentration of salt and other waste, known as the urine specific gravity test. Your doctor will also check your blood for a substance that increases when vasopressin is produced, called copeptin.
If you have diabetes insipidus, your health care professional will prescribe a medication called DDAVP to help the kidneys concentrate urine. This can be taken as a tablet or shot. It can also be used in women who have a condition called gestational diabetes insipidus, which develops during pregnancy. This type of diabetes insipidus typically goes away after the baby is born.
Prevention of Diabetes
The most important prevention strategy for diabetes mellitus is to eat healthy and maintain a normal weight. Exercise also helps prevent the condition from developing. People with diabetes mellitus should check their blood sugar regularly, monitor for signs of high blood pressure, and work with a health care professional to determine the most appropriate treatment options.
Symptoms of diabetes insipidus are different than those of diabetes mellitus and occur when the body can’t conserve water. Diabetes insipidus is closely related to low levels of antidiuretic hormone (ADH), or vasopressin, which regulates the amount of water the kidneys release through urine. People with diabetes insipidus eliminate massive amounts of very dilute, odorless urine that can lead to dehydration and intense thirst.
People with diabetes insipidus have problems with their hypothalamus, pituitary gland, or kidneys that interfere with the production and/or storage of ADH. The condition can be divided into two categories: central and nephrogenic diabetes insipidus.
To diagnose diabetes insipidus, your health care provider will collect a sample of your urine for testing to see how much salt and other waste is in it. They may also give you a synthetic form of ADH to measure the concentration of the water in your urine and to see how well your kidneys respond to it.
If you are experiencing symptoms of diabetes insipidus, talk with your health care provider right away. The condition is easily treatable, but without prompt diagnosis and treatment, symptoms can become severe and debilitating.
While both conditions cause frequent urination and extreme thirst, the two have nothing to do with sugar levels in the blood. Both diseases have to do with a lack of ability to conserve fluids in the body, resulting in a loss of nutrients, minerals, and glucose. Sucking on ice chips and/or eating salty foods can help reduce thirst and decrease the need to urinate frequently. In some cases, a health care professional may recommend taking a diuretic to help increase the amount of urine produced. They will also work with you to develop a plan for maintaining a normal weight and minimizing the impact of symptoms on your daily life.
