The Response of Normal Individuals and Patients With Diabetes Insipidus to the Ingestion of Water 1

Abstract

The physiological adjustments which follow the ingestion of excessive amounts of water and culminate in the familiar water diuresis are by no means understood. Demonstrable changes in the blood attributable to the absorption of water from the intestinal tract are so trifling in comparison with the enormous fluctuations in urine volume as to militate against suggestion that hydremia is per se the immediate stimulus to water release. Indeed, it has been difficult to demonstrate any consistent blood dilution after the absorption of even huge amounts of water, the more so because reduced concentrations of the colloidal non-diffusible constituents of blood do not necessarily imply an increment of circulating water. Haldane and Priestley (16), Adolph (1)

Responses of Normal Subjects and of Patients With Diabetes Insipidus to Water and Salt Ingestion 1

“…One aspect of this work, the responses of normal and diabetes insipidus subjects to water without pitressin, has already been reported (1). Since the earlier work showed failure of the human diabetes insipidus subject to respond to water ingestion with an acute increase in urine volume, one purpose of the present work is to determine whether such subjects show a corresponding failure, as compared with the normal, of responses as regards salt.…”

Renal Physiology between Two Wars: The Contributions of Dr. Harvey Lester White

“…The first study concerned pituitary regulation of water excretion [31]. This work culminated in a precise study on the essential hypothalamic and pituitary lesion in diabetes insipidus [31][32][33][34][35].…”

Blood Volume Regulation

“…Thus, during water intoxication, plasma water probably increases. During even copious water drinking ordinarily only minute changes in hemoglobin concentration and C�.p are seen (97,98). The principle of isosmolarity appearing in equa tion 5 and subsequent equations states that at equilibrium, cell and inter stitial water are distributed as cell and interstitial solute.…”