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The adrenal glands, located on the top of each kidney, are responsible for releasing different hormones. Adrenal gland disorders occur when the adrenal glands produce too much or too little of these hormones.
This rare disorder develops when the adrenal glands do not make enough cortisol. In most cases of Addison's disease, the body also doesn't make enough of the hormone aldosterone. Addison's is an autoimmune disease—a condition in which the immune system, which is supposed to protect the body, mistakenly attacks the body's own tissues and cells.
The Institute’s research is aimed at understanding the genetic and molecular mechanisms leading to disorders that affect the adrenal gland, with emphasis on those that are developmental, hereditary, and associated with adrenal hypoplasia or hyperplasia, multiple tumors, and abnormalities in other endocrine glands.
In addition, some medications can cause problems with how the adrenal glands function. When the adrenal glands produce too little or too many hormones, or when too many hormones come into the body from an outside source, serious health problems can develop. 2,3
For hyperaldosteronism caused by an excessive growth of normal cells in both adrenal glands, the treatment involves medications that block the effect of aldosterone. The treatment for hyperaldosteronism caused by a non-cancerous tumor in one adrenal gland is removing the affected gland using laparoscopic (pronounced la-puh-re-SKOP-ic) surgery.
In most cases, the glands also make too little of the hormone aldosterone. 7 This is also termed primary adrenal insufficiency. This disease can be caused by an autoimmune disorder, infection (for example, tuberculosis), or other rare diseases that cause infiltration and thus destruction of the adrenal glands (for example, sarcoidosis or ...
Adrenal gland disorders occur when the adrenal glands produce too much or too little hormone. Adrenal gland function also can be affected by hormones produced by other glands in the body, such as the pituitary gland, or by hormones introduced from an outside source. At least nine different types of adrenal gland disorders exist, each with its own symptoms and possible treatments.
In other children, the signs of puberty occur because of a problem such as a tumor or genetic abnormality in the ovaries, testes, or adrenal glands, causing overproduction of sex hormones. Precocious puberty can be divided into two categories, depending on where in the body the abnormality occurs— central precocious puberty and peripheral ...
Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), refers to a group of genetic disorders that affect the adrenal glands, which sit atop the kidneys and release hormones the body needs to function. CAH creates imbalances in these hormones, which cause a wide range of symptoms in infants, children, and adults.
Methods for diagnosing adrenal gland disorders differ depending on the specific disorder. For example, the severe form of congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) is most commonly identified during newborn screening.1 But pheochromocytoma is diagnosed using blood and urine tests.2