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• Summary
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• Symptoms
• Diagnosis and Tests
• Treatments and Therapies

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• Genetics

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Summary

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

Start Here

• Addison's Disease (American Academy of Family Physicians) Also in Spanish
• Adrenal Insufficiency (Endocrine Society)
• Adrenal Insufficiency and Addison's Disease (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases) Also in Spanish

Symptoms

• Addison's Disease: Symptoms and Causes (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish

Diagnosis and Tests

• Adrenocorticotropic Hormone (ACTH) (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Aldosterone Test (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Cortisol Test (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Renin Test (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish

Treatments and Therapies

• Addison's Disease: Treatment (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish

Genetics

• Autoimmune Addison disease: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Addison's Disease (National Institutes of Health)
• ClinicalTrials.gov: Adrenal Insufficiency (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: The multiple faces of autoimmune Addison's disease in children.
• Article: Brain activity during working memory in patients with autoimmune Addison's disease.
• Article: Primary adrenal insufficiency in adults: When to suspect, how to diagnose...
• Addison Disease -- see more articles

Find an Expert

• Endocrine Society
• National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

Patient Handouts

• ACTH blood test (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• ACTH stimulation test (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Acute adrenal crisis (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Addison disease (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Cortisol blood test (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish