Polydipsia is possible to rule out psychogenic polydipsia or habit polydipsia. Polydipsia is a symptom (evidence of a disease state), not a disease in itself. As it is often accompanied by polyuria, investigations directed at diagnosing diabetes insipidus and diabetes mellitus can be useful. Blood serum tests can also provide useful information about the osmolality of the body's extracellular fluids. A decrease in osmolality caused by excess water intake will decrease the serum concentration of red blood cells, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), and sodium. Polydipsia Polydipsia is excessive thirst or excess drinking. The word derives from the Greek () "very thirsty",
Shared decision-making in medicine instances where the term "shared decision-making" was employed was in a report on ethics in medicine by Robert Veatch in 1972. It was used again in 1982 in the "President's Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Research." This work built on the increasing interest in patient-centredness and an increasing emphasis on recognising patient autonomy in health care interactions since the 1970s. Some would even claim that a general paradigm shift occurred in the 1980s in which patients became more involved in medical decision-making than before. For example, a 2007 review of 115 patient