pathological water drinking

[Guest guest]

Just came across this - I've been interested in ARBs (angII receptor blockers) for their possible calming effects on autonomic function, but had no idea that ang II activation and noradrenaline release leads to excessive water drinking. Just remembered a story of a girl here in UK, a daughter of a prominent old–school autism 'theorists' (could be Lorna King? but can't remember the name), who literally drank herself to death - died of excessive water intake ( Angiotensin II (Ang II) administered intracerebroventriculary (icv) at a

dose that induces drinking behavior in rats significantly increased K(+)-stimulated release of [(3)H] noradrenaline (NA) in hypothalamus …. The Ang II receptor antagonists studied may become important therapeutic

agents, which act preferentially on pathologically activated systems. These agents may be of use for the prevention of excessive ingestion of water in some neuropsychotic diseases. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20081258