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In this Article

• What is Addison's disease?
• How does Addison's disease occur?
• What is cortisol?
• How is cortisol regulated?
• What is aldosterone?
• What causes Addison's disease?
• Primary adrenal insufficiency
• Polyendocrine deficiency syndrome
• Tuberculosis
• Other causes of Addison's disease
• Secondary adrenal insufficiency
• What are the signs and symptoms of Addison's disease?
• How is Addison's disease diagnosed?
• How is Addison's disease treated?
• Surgery
• Pregnancy?
• Patient education
• For more information
• Patient Comments: Addison's Disease - Share Your Experience
• Patient Comments: Addison's Disease - Causes
• Patient Comments: Addison's Disease - Treatments
• Patient Comments: Addison's Disease - Symptoms
• Find a local Endocrinologist in your town
• Addison Disease Index

The polyendocrine deficiency syndrome is classified into two separate forms, referred to as type I and type II.

Type I occurs in children, and adrenal insufficiency may be accompanied by:

• underactive parathyroid glands
• slow sexual development
• pernicious anemia
• chronic candida infections
• chronic active hepatitis
• hair loss (in very rare cases)

Type II, often called Schmidt's syndrome, usually afflicts young adults. Features of type II may include:

• an underactive thyroid gland
• slow sexual development
• diabetes
• vitiligo
• loss of pigment on areas of the skin

Scientists think that the polyendocrine deficiency syndrome is inherited because frequently more than one family member tends to have one or more endocrine deficiencies.

Tuberculosis (TB), an infection which can destroy the adrenal glands, accounts for about 20 percent of cases of primary adrenal insufficiency in developed countries. When adrenal insufficiency was first identified by Dr. Thomas Addison in 1849, TB was found at autopsy in 70 to 90 percent of cases. As the treatment for TB improved, however, the incidence of adrenal insufficiency due to TB of the adrenal glands has greatly decreased.