Causes of Diabetes insipidus

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Diabetes insipidis is caused either by a shortage of ADH in the body, or by the kidneys not responding properly to ADH.

Lack of ADH may be caused by:

A tumour (cancerous or non-cancerous) in or around the pituitary gland;
Damage to the pituitary gland caused by illnesses such as meningitis, or trauma (injury) such as head injuries or brain surgery;
Some cases do not seem to have a cause. These tend to be the cases in which other members of the same family have the condition, which suggests there may be a genetic cause.

Sometimes ADH is produced, but the kidneys do not respond to it, and continue to get rid of too much water. The parts of the kidney that does the filtering are called nephrons. There are several reasons why the nephrons might not work properly:

Genetic (inherited) faults in the nephrons. This is the most common cause of ADH being ignored by the kidney, and it is called nephrogenic diabetes insipidus.
Other problems with the chemistry of the body (the metabolism), including conditions when the body produces too much calcium, or too little potassium. These conditions prevent the nephrons from being sensitive to ADH.
Certain drugs, such as lithium and tetracycline. These also reduce the sensitivity of the nephrons.