cortisol

Your adrenal glands are two small organs that sit on top of each kidney. The adrenal glands make different types of hormones you need to stay alive and healthy. Hormones are chemicals that travel in your bloodstream and control how different parts of your body work.

The adrenal glands make the hormones cortisol, aldosterone, adrenaline, and noradrenaline. They also make hormones that your body uses to make sex hormones (estrogen and testosterone). All of these hormones do many important jobs, including:

• Turning food into energy and managing blood sugar levels
• Balancing salt and water
• Keeping blood pressure normal
• Responding to illness and stress (your "fight or flight" response)
• Timing when and how fast a child develops sexually
• Supporting pregnancy

When you have an adrenal gland disorder, your body makes too much or too little of one or more hormones. The symptoms depend on the type of problem you have and how much it affects the hormone levels in your body.

There are many types of adrenal gland disorders, including:

• Addison's Disease - a condition in which the adrenal glands don't make enough cortisol
• Cushing's Syndrome - a condition caused by too much cortisol in the body, often from taking steroid medicines for a long time
• Aldosterone-producing adenoma - a benign tumor (not cancer) that makes too much aldosterone and may cause serious high blood pressure
• Hereditary paraganglioma-pheochromocytoma - an inherited condition causing different types of tumors that make adrenaline and other hormones. Some tumors may become cancerous.
• Adrenal gland cancer - cancerous tumors, including adrenocortical carcinoma and neuroblastoma
• Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH) - a group of inherited disorders in which the adrenal glands don't make enough cortisol. The most common type is 21-hydroxylase deficiency (also called CAH1). In the United States, newborn babies get a blood test to see if they have CAH. People born with CAH may not have symptoms until childhood or later in life.

The cause of adrenal gland disorders depends on the type of disorder you have. Causes can include:

• Medicines such as steroids
• A problem in another gland, such as the pituitary gland. The pituitary gland releases hormones that affect how the adrenal glands work.
• Changes in genes (mutations). These changes can cause the adrenal glands to make too much or too little of one or more hormones.
• Infections

In many cases the cause of the problem isn't clear.

Health care providers use different tests to check for adrenal disorders depending on your symptoms and health history. For example, you may have tests of your blood, urine (pee), or saliva (spit). These tests check your hormone levels. Your provider may order x-rays, CT scans, or MRI scans to look for tumors.

Different types of adrenal gland disorders have different treatments. They include medicines and surgery. Radiation therapy is sometimes a treatment for tumors. There are treatments to cure certain adrenal gland disorders. For other disorders, treatments can manage your symptoms.

NIH: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

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:

• Upper body obesity
• Thin arms and legs
• Severe fatigue and muscle weakness
• High blood pressure
• High blood sugar
• Easy bruising

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

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:

• Weight loss
• Muscle weakness
• Fatigue that gets worse over time
• Low blood pressure
• Patchy or dark skin

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:

• Adrenocortical carcinoma - cancer in the outer part of the gland
• Neuroblastoma, a type of childhood cancer
• Pheochromocytoma - a rare tumor that is usually benign

Symptoms depend on the type of cancer you have. Treatments may include surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation therapy.

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:

• Growth and development
• Metabolism - how your body gets energy from the foods you eat
• Sexual function
• Reproduction
• Mood

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.

Itching is an irritating sensation that makes you want to scratch your skin. Sometimes it can feel like pain, but it is different. Often, you feel itchy in one area in your body, but sometimes you may feel itching all over. Along with the itching, you may also have a rash or hives.

Itching is a symptom of many health conditions. Some common causes are:

• Allergic reactions to food, insect bites, pollen, and medicines
• Skin conditions such as eczema, psoriasis, and dry skin
• Irritating chemicals, cosmetics, and other substances
• Parasites such as pinworms, scabies, head and body lice
• Pregnancy
• Liver, kidney, or thyroid diseases
• Certain cancers or cancer treatments
• Diseases that can affect the nervous system, such as diabetes and shingles

Most itching is not serious. To feel better, you could try:

• Applying cold compresses
• Using moisturizing lotions
• Taking lukewarm or oatmeal baths
• Using over-the-counter hydrocortisone cream or antihistamines
• Avoiding scratching, wearing irritating fabrics, and exposure to high heat and humidity

Contact your health care provider if your itching is severe, does not go away after a few weeks, or does not have an apparent cause. You may need other treatments, such as medicines or light therapy. If you have an underlying disease that is causing the itching, treating that disease may help.

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.