Addison's Disease

Addison's Disease: Introduction

Addison's Disease: Addison's disease is a rare endocrine or hormonal disorder that affects about 1 in 100,000 people. It occurs in all age groups and afflicts men and ... more about Addison's Disease.

Addison's Disease: A rare progressive hormonal disorder characterized by insufficient production of certain hormones called adrenal corticosteroids. More detailed information about the symptoms, causes, and treatments of Addison's Disease is available below.

Symptoms of Addison's Disease

• Weight loss
• Muscle weakness
• Fatigue
• Low blood pressure
• Hyperpigmentation - dark skin tanning of both external and unexposed skin areas, most noticable on skin folds, elbows, knees, knuckles, toes, lips, and mucous membranes.
• more symptoms...»

See full list of 61 symptoms of Addison's Disease

Home Diagnostic Testing

Home medical testing related to Addison's Disease:

• High Cholesterol: Home Testing:
  • Home Cholesterol Tests
  • Home Triglycerides Tests
  • Home Blood Pressure Test Devices
• High Blood Pressure: Home Testing
  • Home Blood Pressure Hypertension Tests
  • Home Blood Pressure Monitors
  • Home Heart Tests
• Heart Health: Home Testing:
  • Heart Rate Monitors
  • Irregular Heartbeat Detection
  • Heart Electrocardiogram (ECG)
  • Home Blood Pressure Testing
  • Home Cholesterol Testing
• Fatigue: Related Home Tests:
  • Home Anemia Tests
  • Home Thyroid Gland Function Tests
  • Home Adrenal Gland Function Tests
  • Home Calcium Deficiency Tests
  • Sleep Apnea Testing
  • Home HIV Tests
• Thyroid: Home Testing:
  • Home Thyroid Function Testing
  • Home TSH Tests
  • Home Adrenal Function Tests
• Bladder & Urinary Health: Home Testing:
  • Home Bladder Testing
  • Home Urinary Tract Infection Tests
  • Home Cystitis Tests
  • Home Kidney Tests
  • Home Urine Protein Tests (Kidney Function)
  • Home Prostate Cancer Tests
• Diet & Weight Loss: Home Testing:
  • Home Weight Testing
  • Home Body Fat Testing (BMI)
  • Home Body Fat Monitoring
  • Home Fitness Testing
• Adrenal Gland Health: Home Testing:
  • Home Adrenal Function Testing
  • Home Thyroid Function Tests
• Kidney Health: Home Testing:
  • Home Kidney Testing
  • Home Microalbumin Tests (Kidney)
  • Home Urine Protein Tests (Kidney)
  • Home Urinary Tract Infection Test Kits
• Diabetes: Related Home Testing:
  • Home Diabetes Testing
  • Home Blood Glucose Test Kits
  • Home Urine Glucose Tests
  • Home Urine Ketone Tests
  • Home Diabetes HbA1c Tests
  • Home Microalbumin Tests (Kidney)
  • Home Urine Protein Tests (Kidney)
  • Home Kidney Health Tests
  • Home Eye Health Tests
• more tests...»

Addison's Disease: Complications

Review possible medical complications related to Addison's Disease:

• Addisonian crisis - the most dangerous outcome
• Salt loss
• Irritability
• Depression
• Amenorrhea
• more complications...»

Medical Textbooks Online about Addison's Disease

Book excerpts: Copyright © 2008 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. All rights reserved.

Diagnostic Tests for Addison's Disease

• Physical examination - particularly for hyperpigmentation of the skin
• Cortisol levels blood test
• X-ray adrenal glands - detect calcium deposits from TB-related Addison's.
• X-ray pituitary glands
• CT scan pituitary glands
• more tests...»

See full list of 8 diagnostic tests for Addison's Disease

Wrongly Diagnosed with Addison's Disease?

• Misdiagnosis of Addison's Disease
• Failure to diagnose Addison's Disease
• Hidden causes of Addison's Disease (possibly wrongly diagnosed)
• Undiagnosed: Addison's Disease

Addison's Disease: Self Assessment Tools

• Heart Attack -- Self Assessment Tools
• Weight Management -- Self Assessment Tools
• Heart Disease -- Self Assessment Tools
• more tools...»

Addison's Disease: Medical Mistakes

• Diabetes -- Health Mistakes
• Hypertension -- Health Mistakes
• Cholesterol -- Health Mistakes
• Obesity -- Health Mistakes
• Metabolic Syndrome -- Health Mistakes
• more mistakes...»

Addison's Disease: Marketplace Products, Discounts & Offers

Products, offers and promotion categories available for Addison's Disease:

• Diabetes products & offers »
• Dieting & Weight management: products & offers »
• Heart health products & offers »
• High cholesterol
• more product offers...»

Addison's Disease: Undiagnosed Conditions

Commonly undiagnosed diseases in related medical categories:

• Chronic Major Diseases that are commonly Undiagnosed:
  • High Cholesterol -- Undiagnosed
  • Heart Disease -- Undiagnosed
  • Cancer -- Undiagnosed
  • Depression -- Undiagnosed
  • Type 2 Diabetes -- Undiagnosed
  • Type 1 Diabetes -- Undiagnosed
  • Hypertension -- Undiagnosed
  • Hemochromatosis -- Undiagnosed
  • Metabolic Syndrome -- Undiagnosed
• more undiagnosed conditions...»

In-Depth Reports: Diagnosis and Misdiagnosis

Diabetes diagnosis and misdiagnosis (In-Depth Report): Detailed report on diabetes misdiagnoses, rare curable types, and less common diagnostic issues....read full report »

Read more about Misdiagnosis and Addison's Disease

Misdiagnosis and Addison's Disease

Metabolic syndrome often undiagnosed: Metabolic syndrome, also known as Syndrome X, is an often overlooked medical condition that causes a cluster of chronic symptoms. There are often four...read more »

Heart attacks can be undiagnosed: Although the most severe symptoms of heart attack are hard to miss, there are varying degrees of severity. It is altogether too common for people to die from...read more »

Heart attacks can be overdiagnosed: Although many people die from heart attacks, there are also many cases where people fear that they have a heart attack, but actually have...read more »

Adrenal gland disorder difficult to correctly diagnose: Addison's disease, a disorder of the adrenal glands, causes a variety of symptoms, and is often misdiagnosed in...read more »

Cushing's disease can be mistaken for depression: Cushing's disease (or similarly Cushing's syndrome) is a possible misdiagnosis for a person diagnosed with depression. It is an endocrine disorder with many...read more »

Cluster of diseases with difficult diagnosis issues: There is a well-known list of medical conditions that are all somewhat difficult to diagnose, and all can present in a variety of different severities. Diseases in this...read more »

Poorly healing leg rashes a classic sign of chronic disease: Recurring leg rashes, or poorly healing leg rashes, are a classic sign of undiagnosed diabetes, particularly of Type 2 diabetes, but also Type 1 diabetes...read more »

Leg cramps at night a classic sign: The symptom of having leg muscle cramps, particularly at night, is a classic sign of undiagnosed diabetes. However, there are also various other causes....read more »

Obesity-related conditions undiagnosed in children: A variety of conditions are associated with obesity (see obesity), but these tend to be undiagnosed more often in child patients than in...read more »

Pituitary conditions often undiagnosed cause of symptoms: There are a variety of symptoms that can be caused by a pituitary disorder (see symptoms of pituitary disorders). For example, fatigue, headache, weight gain, ...read more »

Addison's disease has a good prognosis: Addison’s disease when treated with adequate replacement therapy has a good prognosis and life expectancy approximates normal. Lifelong medical supervision is required...read more »

Rare cases of headache: Headache is one of the common symptoms presenting in general practice. It needs a sound diagnostic and management strategy as the problem can be confusing. The key to diagnosing the condition is to know and...read more »

Read more about Misdiagnosis and Addison's Disease

Addison's Disease: Research Doctors & Specialists

Research related physicians and medical specialists:

• Diabetes & Endocrinology Specialists:
  • Diabetes, Endocrinology & Metabolism
  • Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility
  • Pediatric Endocrinology (Child Hormones)
• Cholesterol Specialists:
  • Clinical Lipidology (Cholesterol/Triglycerides)
• Cardiac (Heart) Specialists:
  • Cardiology (Heart specialists)
  • Pediatric Cardiology (Child Heart Specialists)
  • Cardiothoracic Surgery
  • Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology
  • Interventional Cardiology
• Immune-Related Disease Specialists (Immunology):
  • Allergy & Immunology (Allergies & Immune Diseases)
  • Pediatric Allergy and Immunology (Child Allergies & Immune Diseases)
  • Immunopathology
  • Dermatological Immunology / Diagnostic Laboratory
  • Clinical & Laboratory Immunology
• more specialists...»

Other doctor, physician and specialist research services:

• Rate Your Doctor Online
• Research Your Doctor Online
• Review Patient Surveys About Your Doctor
• Research local specialists including ratings, affiliations, and sanctions.

Hospitals & Clinics: Addison's Disease

Research quality ratings and patient safety measures for medical facilities in specialties related to Addison's Disease:

• Heart Health (Cardiac Care) -- Hospital Quality Ratings
• more hospital ratings...»

Hospital & Clinic quality ratings » »

Choosing the Best Hospital: More general information, not necessarily in relation to Addison's Disease, on hospital performance and surgical care quality:

• 50 Best Hospitals Report
• Outstanding Patient Experinece Award Winning Hospitals
• Women's Health Best Hospitals
• Patient Safety
• Hospital Quality and Clinical Excellence Study (2009)

Addison's Disease: Rare Types

Rare types of diseases and disorders in related medical categories:

• Chronic Major Diseases -- Rare Types:
  • High Cholesterol -- Rare Types
  • Heart Disease -- Rare Types
  • Cancer -- Rare Types
  • Depression -- Rare Types
  • Type 2 Diabetes -- Rare Types
  • Type 1 Diabetes -- Rare Types
  • Hypertension -- Rare Types
  • Hemochromatosis -- Rare Types
  • Metabolic Syndrome -- Rare Types
• more rare diseases...»

Causes of Addison's Disease

• Tuberculosis
• Polyendocrine deficiency syndrome
• Chronic infections - mainly fungal infections
• Adrenal cancer
• Amyloidosis
• more causes...»

See full list of 13 causes of Addison's Disease

More information about causes of Addison's Disease:

• Medications, drugs, or substances causing Addison's Disease (2 listings)
• Underlying causes of Addison's Disease
• Addison's Disease as a complication caused by other conditions
• Addison's Disease as a symptom
• Cause statistics for Addison's Disease

Treatments for Addison's Disease

• Hydrocortisone tablets - replaces cortisol hormone
• Fludrocortisone acetate (Florinef) - for aldosterone deficiency
• Salt intake - for aldosterone deficiency
• more treatments...»

Read more about treatments for Addison's Disease

Evidence Based Medicine Research for Addison's Disease

Medical research articles related to Addison's Disease include:

• Diuretics with Potassium
• Amenorrhea (Without Hirsutism) and Menopause
• Buyers' guide: Insulin pumps
• Is a beta blocker or ace inhibitor contraindicated in a patient with addisons disease post myocardial infarction?
• Adrenal Insufficiency (Addison's Disease)
• ACE Inhibitors with Diuretics
• Amiloride and Bumetanide
• more research...»

Click here to find more evidence-based articles on the TRIP Database

Videos for Addison's Disease

Patient Surveys for Addison's Disease

• Patient Profile Survey
  Take Survey  View Results
• Survey about the symptoms of your Addison's Disease
  Take Survey  View Results

Reseach about Addison's Disease

Visit our research pages for current research about Addison's Disease treatments.

Clinical Trials for Addison's Disease

The US based website ClinicalTrials.gov lists information on both federally and privately supported clinical trials using human volunteers.

Some of the clinical trials listed on ClinicalTrials.gov for Addison's Disease include:

• Phase III Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study of Dehydroepiandrosterone Replacement for Primary Adrenal Insufficiency - This study has been completed (Current: 23 Nov 2006) - dehydroepiandrosterone
• Adrenal Function After Living Kidney Donation - This study is currently recruiting patients (Current: 23 Nov 2006)
• more trials...»

Read more about Clinical Trials for Addison's Disease

Statistics for Addison's Disease

• Medical statistics for Addison's Disease
• Prevalence and incidence statistics for Addison's Disease
• Death and Mortality statistics for Addison's Disease
• Society statistics for Addison's Disease

Addison's Disease: Broader Related Topics

• Autoimmune diseases
• Adrenal insufficiency
• Pituitary conditions
• more types...»

Types of Addison's Disease

Types of Addison's Disease

• Primary Adrenal Insufficiency - 70%, autoimmune destruction of the adrenal cortex
• Secondary Adrenal Insufficiency - caused by a tumor or another underlying cause.
• Tuberculosis-caused Addison's
• more types...»

Read more about Types of Addison's Disease

Stories from Users Related to Addison's Disease

• Adrenal dysfunction?
• Adrenal Mass
• cortisol insufficiancy?? adrenal dsyfunction??
• Adrenal insufficiency or?
• Addison's vs. Adrenal Burnout
• need to know what to do adrenal mass
• Adrenal OCD ?
• New with Addison's disease, Help
• Addisons Disease vs Fibromyalgia
• addisons disease
• advice on how and where to proceed, (low adrenal)I
• could it be adrenal insufficiency?
• Is it Addison's Disease?
• Parkinson's or Adrenal Carncinoma??
• Severe adrenal rushes
• Addison's Disease

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User Interactive Forums

Read about other experiences, ask a question about Addison's Disease, or answer someone else's question, on our message boards:

• I can not get a diagnosis. Please help.
• Tell us your medical story.
• Share your misdiagnosis story.
• What is the best treatment for this?
• See all the forums.

Article Excerpts about Addison's Disease

Addison's disease is a rare endocrine or hormonal disorder that affects about 1 in 100,000 people. It occurs in all age groups and afflicts men and women equally. The disease is characterized by weight loss, muscle weakness, fatigue, low blood pressure, and sometimes darkening of the skin in both exposed and nonexposed parts of the body.

Addison's disease occurs when the adrenal glands do not produce enough of the hormone cortisol and in some cases, the hormone aldosterone. For this reason, the disease is sometimes called chronic adrenal insufficiency, or hypocortisolism. (Source: excerpt from Addison's Disease: NIDDK)

Definitions of Addison's Disease:

A glandular disorder caused by failure of function of the cortex of the adrenal gland and marked by anemia and prostration with brownish skin - (Source - WordNet 2.1)

Addison's Disease is listed as a "rare disease" by the Office of Rare Diseases (ORD) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This means that Addison's Disease, or a subtype of Addison's Disease, affects less than 200,000 people in the US population.
Source - National Institutes of Health (NIH)