Abstract
To the Editor.— Albert Liebman's (241:2141, 1979) choice of a better name for the antidiuretic the water-retaining hormone, still leaves much to be desired. In truth, the hormone acts in a general nonspecific manner on the size of the submicroscopic pores that exist in biological membranes; it is also true that, in general, this action results in an economy of water. However, it should be understood that this is not accomplished through a retention mechanism, but through an mechanism, which can be shown to vary from resorption of bladder water to absorption of water via the skin to reabsorption of water at the level of the collecting tubule. What is essential to realize is that the effect of the hormone is so nonspecific that, through appropriate manipulations of the body's water load and partition, and through the manipulation of the renal blood flow pattern, the administration of the
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