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Adrenal insufficiency
Make it clearer
Adrenal insufficiency means running short on adrenal hormones, above all one called cortisol. It helps to notice where the problem sits when you name it: the issue isn't that the gland looks odd or damaged, it's that the amount of hormone reaching the body isn't enough. What defines the disease is the shortage, not the appearance of the organ.
That shortage can begin in two different places. In the primary form, the damage is in the adrenal gland itself: the factory is broken. In the secondary form, the factory could do the work, but few orders come in, because the pituitary, a gland that sends signals from up in the head, isn't sending enough ACTH, which is exactly the order that wakes the adrenal up. There the shortfall starts with the signal, not with the gland that responds to it.
In brief
Adrenal insufficiency occurs when the body does not produce enough of certain adrenal hormones, especially cortisol. The idea centers on a shortage of hormone rather than simply on the presence of an abnormal gland.
In primary adrenal insufficiency, the adrenal gland itself is damaged. In the secondary form, the pituitary does not send enough ACTH, so the problem starts with the signal that reaches the gland.
Sources (1)
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney DiseasesDefinition & Facts of Adrenal Insufficiency & Addison's Disease
This page explains the topic in general terms; it does not tell anyone what treatment to follow.
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