A 45-year-old member asked:
What exactly is adrenal insufficiency?
1 doctor answer • 1 doctor weighed in
A Verified Doctoranswered
32 years experience
Adrenal cortex loss: Hi. Adrenal deficiency refers to Addison's disease, primary adrenal cortical failure, where the body is deficient in two vital adrenal cortical steroid hormones, cortisol and aldosterone. Central/pituitary adrenal insufficiency is deficient only in cortisol (not aldosterone). Cortisol is a vital "stress" hormone, and is necessary for life in the long run and the acute physiologic stress setting.
3.5k viewsAnswered >2 years agoMerged
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A 33-year-old member asked:
What is adrenal insufficiency?
2 doctor answers • 8 doctors weighed in
Dr. Susan Wingoanswered
Endocrinology 34 years experience
Low adrenal function: The adrenal glands make a number of different hormones, most importantly cortisol. When a person's adrenals cannot make normal amounts of cortisol, they are diagnosed with adrenal insufficiency, or failure. This can be due to a problem in the adrenals (infection, tumor, bleeding, auto-immune destruction) or in the pituitary or parts of the brain that control the adrenals.
6.1k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
Last updated Nov 29, 2014
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