Primary polydipsia Alcoholism may cause physiological thirst since ethanol inhibits vasopressin, the hormone primarily responsible for water retention in osmoregulation. The following conditions should also be excluded: DI, cerebral salt wasting, pseudohyponatraemia caused by hyperlipidemia or hyperparaproteinemia, SIADH, mineralcorticoid deficiency, salt-wasting nephropathy, nephrotic syndrome, chronic heart failure and cirrhosis. Tobacco smoking is an often overlooked factor linked to hyponatremia, due to the ADH-releasing effect of nicotine, although this is usually limited to heavy smokers. One study suggested that around 70% of patients with self-induced polydipsia were tobacco smokers. Diagnostic tests for primary polydipsia usually involves the fluid deprivation test to exclude ADH
Traditional African medicine is one healer for every 200 people in the Southern Africa region which is a much greater doctor-to-patient ratio than is found in North America. Ratios of doctors (practicing modern medicine) and traditional medical practitioners to patients in east and southern Africa: "*TMP refers to Traditional Medical Practitioner "Note: References with an asterisk are in Cunningham, 1993. This table showing the ratio of traditional medical practitioner to patient and Western practitioner to patient shows that in many parts of Africa, practitioners trained in modern medicine are few and far between. Because of this, healers prove to be a large and