What is polydipsia?
As polydipsia is called in medicine morbidly increased thirst. It is often connected due to increased fluid intake with polyuria. The opposite of polydipsia, ie a non-existent sense of thirst is called Adipsie.
Thirst and increased drinking may be banal, but also signs of serious, sometimes life-threatening diseases. The daily fluid intake in adults is normally not exceed four liters. At higher amounts of an underlying disease should be medically excluded.
Polydipsia causes
The cause of this disease is usually in the reduced ability of the kidney to concentrate the urine. This leads to water loss in the urine. Due to the increased excretion also increases the feeling of thirst and it is necessarily to increased drinking to compensate for the fluid balance.
Possible the underlying disease can be: diabetes mellitus, diabetes insipidus, diseases of the parathyroid gland (hyperparathyroidism), Cushing's syndrome, electrolyte imbalance (hypercalcemia), kidney disease, taking water ausschwemmender medications (diuretics), a side effect of various drugs, psychogenic disorders (behavioral and personality disorder , for example Deferred anorexia), alcohol-related brain damage (eg central pontine myelinolysis). Also, increased alcohol consumption, fever and diarrhea can lead to a temporary polydipsia with little clinical significance.
Complications
As a complication of an elevated excretion is always the danger of dehydration, if not enough fluid is supplied.
In addition, there may be a loss of salts and minerals in the body, which are excreted in the urine and not resumed.
Therapy
The therapy consists of treating the underlying disease. The main objective is to detect and treat serious causes of increased thirst and pathological drinking. Very common is diabetes mellitus, the cause of the sensation of thirst.