| Medical Dictionary |
A Medical Dictionary of Medical Terminology
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Your adrenal glands are just above your kidneys. The outside layer of these glands makes hormones that help your body respond to stress and regulate your blood pressure and water and salt balance. Addison disease happens if the adrenal glands don't make enough of these hormones.
A problem with your immune system usually causes Addison disease. The immune system mistakenly attacks your own tissues, damaging your adrenal glands. Other causes include infections and cancer.
Symptoms include:
Lab tests can confirm that you have Addison disease. If you don't treat it, it can be fatal. You will need to take hormone pills for the rest of your life. If you have Addison disease, you should carry an emergency ID. It should say that you have the disease, list your medicines and say how much you need in an emergency.
NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
Your adrenal, or suprarenal, glands are located on the top of each kidney. These glands produce hormones that you can't live without, including sex hormones and cortisol, which helps you respond to stress and has many other functions.
A number of disorders can affect the adrenal glands, including tumors. Tumors can be either benign or malignant. Benign tumors aren't cancer. Malignant ones are. Most adrenal gland tumors are benign. They usually do not cause symptoms and may not require treatment. Malignant adrenal gland cancers are uncommon.
Types of tumors include:
Symptoms depend on the type of cancer you have. Treatments may include surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation therapy.
Cushing's syndrome is a hormonal disorder. The cause is long-term exposure to too much cortisol, a hormone that your adrenal gland makes. Sometimes, taking synthetic hormone medicine to treat an inflammatory disease leads to Cushing's. Some kinds of tumors produce a hormone that can cause your body to make too much cortisol.
Cushing's syndrome is rare. Some symptoms are:
Lab tests can show if you have it and find the cause. Your treatment will depend on why you have too much cortisol. If it is because you have been taking synthetic hormones, a lower dose may control your symptoms. If the cause is a tumor, surgery and other therapies may be needed.
NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
Hormones are your body's chemical messengers. They travel in your bloodstream to tissues or organs. They work slowly, over time, and affect many different processes, including:
Endocrine glands, which are special groups of cells, make hormones. The major endocrine glands are the pituitary, pineal, thymus, thyroid, adrenal glands, and pancreas. In addition, men produce hormones in their testes and women produce them in their ovaries.
Hormones are powerful. It takes only a tiny amount to cause big changes in cells or even your whole body. That is why too much or too little of a certain hormone can be serious. Laboratory tests can measure the hormone levels in your blood, urine, or saliva. Your health care provider may perform these tests if you have symptoms of a hormone disorder. Home pregnancy tests are similar - they test for pregnancy hormones in your urine.
Your pituitary gland is a pea-sized gland at the base of your brain. The pituitary is the "master control gland" - it makes hormones that affect growth and the functions of other glands in the body.
With pituitary disorders, you often have too much or too little of one of your hormones. Injuries can cause pituitary disorders, but the most common cause is a pituitary tumor.
Your pituitary gland is a pea-sized gland at the base of your brain. The pituitary is the "master control gland" - it makes hormones that affect growth and the functions of other glands in the body.
Pituitary tumors are common, but often they don't cause health problems. Most people with pituitary tumors never even know they have them. The most common type of pituitary tumor produces hormones and disrupts the balance of hormones in your body. This can cause endocrine diseases such as Cushing's syndrome and hyperthyroidism.
Symptoms of pituitary tumors include:
Pituitary tumors are usually curable. Treatment is often surgery to remove the tumor. Other options include medicines, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy.