What exactly means diuresis?

DialysisRN12 · Mar 3, 2014

I concur with LadyFree28 :)

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kdunurse · Mar 4, 2014

If diuresis by itself were meaning increased urination, the article authors would not use the term increased diuresis for increased urination but just diuresis. Yes, by obvious logic, to me, this means, they consider diuresis as normal urination.
A word being explained in a dictionary this or other way does not automatically mean the explanation is correct or appropriate.
I have finished a medical faculty and I believe I have fair understanding of most common medical terms and principles behind them, but I found this diuresis a bit tricky, so I asked for opinions here. My question is about a term usage, not a medical question. I asked a question and provided my arguments, I did not make any final claim. Again, I feel, the term diuresis in dictionaries should be used for normal urination from the reasons described above. I'm not complaining about how nurses and doctors use it at their work.
I'm not attacking or insulting anyone here and I fully respect reasonable answers even if I don't agree with them. If someone thinks my explanation is wrong please provide some reasoning beyond how "everyone" uses the term in a certain way or how it is written in dictionaries. Basically I was hoping someone will paste a link to some source for which we all could agree as an authority source. Again, this is probably much more a grammatical than medical question.
EDIT:
Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (y. 1913) has this definition:
Diuresis = free excretion of urine.
This is what I can agree with.

What do you mean by, "I have finished a medical faculty"? What exactly are your medical qualifications? And can I assume that you are not a native English speaker?

I'm not going to argue with you about the meaning of diuresis. It's obvious you're not going to listen to anyone who thinks differently than you, no matter what their qualifications, if you're going to argue with the dictionary. I suppose you'd argue with a nephrologist or urologist, as well...

I do hope you're not going to be providing direct patient care to anyone. Your inability to admit that your understanding is faulty is kind of scary.

kdunurse · Mar 4, 2014

Oh my - healthresearch is from Slovenia, according to his profile. So a non-native English speaker thinks he understands the meaning of diuresis better than a medical dictionary, or a bunch of dialysis nurses.

healthresearch · Mar 4, 2014

Kdnurse, by finishing medical faculty in Slovenia and after additional practice period you become a doctor of general practice. I am not working as a physician but, currently, as a health writer. The term diuresis is used in Slovenia and many other languages (in medical settings), so I believe I'm discussing about an internationally used medical term, not about an English word.

As currently described in many dictionaries, diuresis ("increased urination") can be confused with polyuria ("excessive urination"), so I was hoping to find a more clear explanation and I've actually (after starting this thread) found it in Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, so diuresis as free excretion of urine. The terms diuresis and polyuria do not confuse me personally, but I wanted to be sure I can describe them in my articles in the correct and non-confusing way.

kdunurse · Mar 4, 2014

In your original post, you said your understanding of diuresis was "normal excretion of urine". Many of us replied that it is not. If you're looking for specific examples, consider osmotic diuresis, which in no way is a normal excretion of urine. You have chosen to accept a definition from a 101 year old dictionary, rather than its current counterpart, which shows poor judgment on your part, and you do not indicate that your understanding of the term diuresis has changed at all. If you really are a health writer, I'd strongly recommend buying a medical dictionary, rather than relying on something 100 years old that you found on page 3 of your Internet search. I would also suggest you confine your health writing to Slovenian, if you are struggling to understand the distinction between the words "increased" and "excessive".

healthresearch · Mar 4, 2014

I do not think anyone here, including me, can prove what is the right or wrong usage of the word diuresis, we can merely agree with one or other explanation. It seems diuresis as increased urination is "widely accepted in a medical community," but this is again only because many people agree with it. Still, there are many authors who understand diuresis simply as urination, so they use the term "increased diuresis" when they write about increased urination. The links shows contemporary usage mostly from the pubmed database.

Kdnurse, I don't think I gave you the reason to believe I do not understand the difference between increased and excessive urination. They are readers of health articles who may find terms increased, excessive and frequent urination confusing.

Of course, in osmotic diuresis, cold diuresis and immersion diuresis urination is increased. This is just how these terms are composed and I do not find this as a problem, because it does not cause any confusion.

You must also know the terms "24-hour diuresis" and "hourly diuresis," which do not by themselves suggest urination is increased, right? So, the term diuresis is sometimes used as increased urination and sometimes just as urination. Again, I do not really think this could possibly cause any realistic medical problem, but I do find it as a writing problem, when one medical term is used in two different ways.

kdunurse · Mar 4, 2014

You must also know the terms "24-hour diuresis" and "hourly diuresis," which do not by themselves suggest urination is increased, right? So, the term diuresis is sometimes used as increased urination and sometimes just as urination. Again, I do not really think this could possibly cause any realistic medical problem, but I do find it as a writing problem, when one medical term is used in two different ways.

I am not familiar with the terms 24-hour diuresis and hourly diuresis, actually; these are not terms that are commonly used in North American medicine. Any references to these terms that I found through a Google search led me to Non-American websites. What you refer to as "24-hour diuresis", we would call 24-hour urine output. I cannot speak to how the word "diuresis" is used in your part of the world, but I can say that here in the US (and in Canada, as I received my nursing education there), it refers to increased urine output. If you are writing for a non-American audience, you should try to find clarification from experts in that geographical area, not Americans.

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Mar 4, 2014

If diuresis by itself were meaning increased urination, the article authors would not use the term increased diuresis for increased urination but just diuresis. Yes, by obvious logic, to me, this means, they consider diuresis as normal urination.
A word being explained in a dictionary this or other way does not automatically mean the explanation is correct or appropriate.
I have finished a medical faculty and I believe I have fair understanding of most common medical terms and principles behind them, but I found this diuresis a bit tricky, so I asked for opinions here. My question is about a term usage, not a medical question. I asked a question and provided my arguments, I did not make any final claim. Again, I feel, the term diuresis in dictionaries should be used for normal urination from the reasons described above. I'm not complaining about how nurses and doctors use it at their work.
I'm not attacking or insulting anyone here and I fully respect reasonable answers even if I don't agree with them. If someone thinks my explanation is wrong please provide some reasoning beyond how "everyone" uses the term in a certain way or how it is written in dictionaries. Basically I was hoping someone will paste a link to some source for which we all could agree as an authority source. Again, this is probably much more a grammatical than medical question.
EDIT:
Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (y. 1913) has this definition:
Diuresis = free excretion of urine.
This is what I can agree with.

I don't know what you are looking at....diuresis is an increased production of urine. Polyuruia is an excessive production of urine symptom of a disease or condition.

diuresis /di-ure-sis/ (di″u-re´sis) increased excretion of urine.

osmotic diuresis that resulting from the presence of nonabsorbable or poorly absorbable, osmotically active substances in the renal tubules.

pressure diuresis increased urinary excretion of water when arterial pressure increases, a compensatory mechanism to maintain blood pressure within the normal range.

diuresis [dī′yoo͡rē′sis] Etymology: Gk, dia, through, ouron, urine

increased formation and secretion of urine. Diuresis occurs in conditions such as diabetes mellitus, diabetes insipidus, and acute renal failure. It is normal in the first 48 hours after giving birth. Coffee, tea, certain foods, diuretic drugs, anxiety, fear, and some steroids cause diuresis. Water is considered the least expensive diuretic.

iuresis [di″u-re´sis] increased excretion of urine; see also diuretic.

diuresis,n increase in urine production and passage from the body occurring in conditions such as diabetes mellitus and diabetes insipidus.

diuresis

increased excretion of the urine.

cold diuresisoccurs in hypothermia as a result of peripheral vasoconstriction, hyperglycemia and decreased renal tubular absorption.

osmotic diuresisdue to increased concentration of solutes which are not reabsorbed in the proximal tubules and which, by osmotic pressure, cause water to be retained. See also osmotic diuretic.

postobstruction diuresisdue to the diuretic effect of urea and electrolytes retained during the period of obstruction.

water diuresisingestion and excretion of an excess of water, without a corresponding amount of sodium; involves expansion of plasma volume, increased left atrial pressure and inhibition of ADH. See also obligatory water diuresis.

diuresis Nephrology Excretion of urine, especially in excess. See Overdiuresis.

pol-y-u-ri-a (pōl′ē-yo͝or′ē-ə)

n. Excessive passage of urine, as in diabetes. Also called hydruria.

polyuria [pol′ēyoo͡r′ē-ə] Etymology: Gk, polys + ouron, urine

the excretion of an abnormally large quantity of urine. Some causes of polyuria are diabetes insipidus, diabetes mellitus, use of diuretics, excessive fluid intake, and hypercalcemia.

polyuria [pol″e-u´re-ah] excessive excretion of urine, such as with diabetes mellitus.

polyuria (pol´ēyoor´ēə),n the passage of an abnormally increased volume of urine. It may result from increased intake of fluids, inadequate renal function, uncontrolled diabetes mellitus or diabetes insipidus, diuresis of edema fluid, or ascites.

polyuria Nephrology Excessive urination due to ↑ production

polyuria

the formation and excretion of a large volume of urine. A history of polyuria in an animal is as unreliable as a history of polydipsia. A quantitative assurance that polydipsia is present suggests an error of renal tubular efficiency either as a result of toxic damage or an absence of the pituitary gland's antidiuretic hormone.

compensatory polyuriasee physiological polyuria (below).

pathological polyuriathat caused by a disease of the kidney or disorder elsewhere in the body, e.g. diabetes mellitus or liver failure.

pharmacological polyuriais caused by administered fluids or medication, such as glucocorticoids or diuretics.

physiological polyuriathe result of increased fluid intake; called also compensatory polyuria (above).

healthresearch · Mar 4, 2014

Both 24-hour diuresis and output are used in North-American websites (pubmed) and international websites (who.int). Urine output is certainly more understandable, especially for patients. Anyway, I would find diuresis explained as urination more intuitive, because the Greek origin of the term is "diourein," which is translated as "to urinate" on etymonline.com Greek- and Latin-derived medical terms are usually very logical, though.

kdunurse · Mar 4, 2014

Both 24-hour diuresis and output are used in North-American websites (pubmed) and international websites (who.int). Urine output is certainly more understandable especially for patients. Anyway, I would find diuresis explained as urination more intuitive, because the Greek origin of the term is "diourein," which is translated as "to urinate" on etymonline.com Greek- and Latin-derived medical terms are usually very logical, though.

Pubmed publishes research from around the world, not just North America. You will not find a North American researcher or clinician who uses the terminology "24-hour diuresis" or "hourly diuresis". If you are writing for a North American audience, they will not be familiar with this terminology. It's not a matter of what you personally find intuitive, it's about what your audience will understand.

healthresearch · Mar 5, 2014

I actually try to write for North-American audience but when my writing is published online, everyone can read it. I try to avoid medical terms, including diuresis, as much as possible. I can simply use 24-hour urine collection and so, because I write for non-medical readers.

healthresearch · Mar 5, 2014

I don't know what you are looking at....
diuresis [dī′yoo͡rē′sis] Etymology: Gk, dia, through, ouron, urine
increased formation and secretion of urine.

I'm discussing about this disharmony between etymology of diuresis and its explanation by the dictionary authors.

Etymologically, as you pasted above, diuresis is dia, through, ouron, urine, which suggests merely urination or literally "urine going through." Yet, authors of this and many other dictionaries translated it as increased urination. They have right to do this; it's a matter of decision after all, but the explanation is made in a different way as in similarly constructed words; for example, polyuria, anuria, diplopia, diabetes are all explained accordingly to an unique and predictable meaning of the prepositions "poly-," "a-," "di-" and "dia-," while diuresis (as increased urination) is not — and this is what causes confusion. If there is a well established system to compose medical terms from Greek/Latin words, why break it from no apparent reason.