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Adrenal gland disorders (or diseases) are conditions that interfere with the normal functioning of the adrenal glands. [1] Your body produces too much or too little of one or more hormones when you have an adrenal gland dysfunction. The type of issue you have and the degree to which it affects your body's hormone levels determine the symptoms.
With appropriate treatment, the overall outcome is generally favorable, [10] and most people are able to lead a reasonably normal life. [11] Without treatment, an adrenal crisis can result in death. [1] Addison's disease affects about 9 to 14 per 100,000 people in the developed world. [1] [3] It occurs most frequently in middle-aged females. [1]
For people with hyperplasia of both glands, successful treatment is often achieved with spironolactone or eplerenone, drugs that block the aldosterone receptor. With its antiandrogen effect, spironolactone drug therapy may have a range of side effects in males and females, including gynecomastia and irregular menses.
Adrenal insufficiency is a condition in which the adrenal glands do not produce adequate amounts of steroid hormones.The adrenal glands—also referred to as the adrenal cortex—normally secrete glucocorticoids (primarily cortisol), mineralocorticoids (primarily aldosterone), and androgens.
CAH due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency is the most common cause of ambiguous genitalia in genotypically normal female infants (46XX). Less severely affected females may present with early pubarche. Young women may present with symptoms of polycystic ovarian syndrome (oligomenorrhea, polycystic ovaries, hirsutism). [medical citation needed]
Endocrine disorders are often quite complex, involving a mixed picture of hyposecretion and hypersecretion because of the feedback mechanisms involved in the endocrine system. For example, most forms of hyperthyroidism are associated with an excess of thyroid hormone and a low level of thyroid stimulating hormone .
Severely affected genetic females (XX) are born with normal internal and external genitalia and there are no clues to abnormality until adolescence, when the androgenic and estrogenic signs (e.g., breasts and pubic hair) of puberty either fails to occur or is abnormal. Gonadotropins are high and the uterus infantile in size.
As an X-linked disorder, ALD presents most commonly in males; however, approximately 50% of heterozygote females show some symptoms later in life. Approximately two-thirds of ALD patients will present with the childhood cerebral form of the disease, which is the most severe form.