Being a parent of a child with ROHHAD can lead to some extremely daunting and outright confusing meetings with doctors and specialists. To help with the virtual language barrier between attending doctors and everyday parents, we offer a list of definitions and explanations of ROHHAD related vocabulary.

Below is a list of definitions of ROHHAD symptoms:

Adrenal insufficiency is a condition in which the adrenal glands, located above the kidneys, do not produce adequate amounts of steroid hormones (chemicals produced by the body that regulate organ function), primarily cortisol, but may also include impaired aldosterone production (a mineralcorticoid) which regulates sodium, potassium and water retention. Craving for salt or salty foods due to the urinary losses of sodium is common.

Adrenarche refers to a stage of maturation of the cortex of the human adrenal glands. It typically occurs between ages 6 and 10 years and involves both structural and functional changes. Adrenarche is a process related to puberty but distinct from hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal maturation and function.

Diabetes insipidus (DI) is a condition characterized by excretion of large amounts of severely diluted urine, which cannot be reduced when fluid intake is reduced. It denotes inability of the kidney to concentrate urine.

Hypernatremia is an electrolyte disturbance that is defined by an elevated sodium level in the blood. Hypernatremia is generally not caused by an excess of sodium, but rather by a relative deficit of free water in the body. For this reason, hypernatremia is often synonymous with the less precise term, dehydration.

Hyponatremia is an electrolyte disturbance (disturbance of the salts in the blood) in which the sodium  concentration in the plasma is too low.

Polydipsia is a medical symptom in which the patient drinks abnormally large amounts of fluids.

Polyphagia is a compound word which literally means "eating too much."

Polyuria is a condition characterized by the passage of large volumes of urine.

Precocious puberty (La:pubertas praecox) is an unusually early onset of puberty, the process of sexual maturation triggered by the brain or exogenous chemicals, which usually begins in late childhood and results in reproductive maturity and completion of growth. Early puberty may be a variation of normal development, or may be a result of a disease or abnormal hormone exposure.  

The Syndrome of Inappropriate Antidiuretic Hormone (SIADH) is a condition commonly found in the hospital population, especially in patients being hospitalized for central nervous system (CNS) injury. This is a syndrome characterized by excessive release of antidiuretic hormone (ADH or vasopressin) from the posterior pituitary gland or another source. The result is hyponatremia, and sometimes fluid overload.