Adrenal Gland Disorders
Source: MedlinePlus Health Topics, U.S. National Library of Medicine
What are adrenal glands? Your adrenal glands are two small organs that sit on top of each kidney. The adrenal glands make different types of hormones you need to stay alive and healthy. Hormones are chemicals that travel in your bloodstream and control how different parts of your body work. The adrenal glands make the hormones cortisol, aldosterone, adrenaline, and noradrenaline. They also make hormones that your body uses to make sex hormones (estrogen and testosterone). All of these hormones do many important jobs, including: Turning food into energy and managing blood sugar levels Balancing salt and water Keeping blood pressure normal Responding to illness and stress (your "fight or flight" response) Timing when and how fast a child develops sexually Supporting pregnancy What are adrenal gland disorders? When you have an adrenal gland disorder, your body makes too much or too little of one or more hormones. The symptoms depend on the type of problem you have and how much it affects the hormone levels in your body. There are many types of adrenal gland disorders, including: Addison's Disease - a condition in which the adrenal glands don't make enough cortisol Cushing's Syndrome - a condition caused by too much cortisol in the body, often from taking steroid medicines for a long time Aldosterone-producing adenoma - a benign tumor (not cancer) that makes too much aldosterone and may cause serious high blood pressure Hereditary paraganglioma-pheochromocytoma - an inherited condition causing different types of tumors that make adrenaline and other hormones. Some tumors may become cancerous. Adrenal gland cancer - cancerous tumors, including adrenocortical carcinoma and neuroblastoma Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH) - a group of inherited disorders in which the adrenal glands don't make enough cortisol. The most common type is 21-hydroxylase deficiency (also called CAH1) . In the United States, newborn babies get a blood test to see if they have CAH. People born wi