Changing the name of diabetes insipidus: a position statement of The Working Group for Renaming Diabetes Insipidus

• Published in: Endocrine Journal Vol. 69; no. 11; pp. 1281 - 1284
• Main Authors: The Working Group for Renaming Diabetes Insipidus, Arima, Hiroshi, Cheetham, Timothy, Christ-Crain, Mirjam, Cooper, Deborah, Gurnell, Mark, Drummond, Juliana B, Levy, Miles, McCormack, Ann I, Verbalis, Joseph, Newell-Price, John, Wass, John A H
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kyoto The Japan Endocrine Society 01.01.2022; Japan Science and Technology Agency
• Subjects: Argipressin; Diabetes insipidus; Endocrinology; Pediatrics; Renaming; Shakespeare, William (1564-1616); Vasopressin
• ISSN: 0918-8959; 1348-4540; 1348-4540
• DOI: 10.1507/endocrj.EJ20220831

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose/By any other name would smell as sweet.” (Juliet, from Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare). Shakespeare’s implication is that a name is nothing but a word and it therefore represents a convention with no intrinsic meaning. Whilst this may be relevant to romantic literature, disease names do have real meanings, and consequences, in medicine. Hence, there must be a very good rational for changing the name of a disease that has a centuries-old historical context. A working group of representatives from national and international endocrinology and pediatric endocrine societies now proposes changing the name of “diabetes insipidus” to “Arginine Vasopressin Deficiency (AVP-D)” for central etiologies, and “Arginine Vasopressin Resistance (AVP-R)” for nephrogenic etiologies. This editorial provides both the historical context and the rational for this proposed name change.