Question

which one of the following clinical features differentiates diabetes mellitus from diabetes insipidus? dehydration polyuria polyphagia polydipsia

Explanation:

1. Recall the clinical features of Diabetes mellitus (DM) and Diabetes insipidus (DI):

• Both DM (due to hyperglycemia, osmotic diuresis) and DI (due to ADH deficiency, large volume of dilute urine) can have polyuria, polydipsia, and dehydration.
• Polyphagia (excessive hunger) is specific to DM because in DM, cells are starved for glucose (due to insulin deficiency or resistance), leading to increased hunger. DI does not involve issues with glucose metabolism, so polyphagia is not a feature of DI.

Answer:

Polyphagia (the option corresponding to "Polyphagia")