Signs & Symptoms. The symptoms of Addison's disease can vary from one individual to another. Symptoms usually develop slowly over time and are usually vague and common to many conditions (nonspecific). This often leads to delays in the proper diagnosis of Addison's disease.
Addison's disease can be a life-threatening condition, but it is often not diagnosed until weeks or even months after the first vague symptoms present themselves.
Addison's disease symptoms usually happen slowly, often over months. The disease can move so slowly that people who have it may ignore the symptoms at first.
With Addison's disease, your immune system attacks the outer portion of your adrenal glands (the adrenal cortex), where they make cortisol and aldosterone. Symptoms don't usually develop until 90% of the adrenal cortex has been damaged, which can take several months to years.
The mean ages at death for females (75.7 years) and males (64.8 years) were 3.2 and 11.2 years less than the estimated life expectancy. Conclusion: Addison's disease is still a potentially lethal condition, with excess mortality in acute adrenal failure, infection, and sudden death in patients diagnosed at young age.
If Addison's disease is left untreated, the levels of hormones produced by the adrenal gland gradually decrease in the body. This causes your symptoms to get progressively worse and eventually lead to a life-threatening situation called an adrenal or Addisonian crisis.
It is frequently mistaken for psychiatric disorders, such as depression, apathy, anxiety or even psychosis, and already in the originally described cases by Addison it is obvious that these traits often precede other symptoms.
If Addison's disease is suspected, blood tests will be carried out to measure the levels of sodium, potassium and cortisol in your body. A low sodium, high potassium or low cortisol level may indicate Addison's disease.
In its early stages, adrenal insufficiency can be hard to diagnose since symptoms come on slowly. Your health care professional may suspect it after reviewing your medical history and symptoms. The next step is blood testing to see if your cortisol levels are too low and to help find the cause.
Men and women of all ages are equally affected by adrenal insufficiency, which may be permanent or temporary and can be treated with medications.
Symptoms tend to come and go and may include abdominal pain, dizziness, fatigue, weight loss, salt craving, and the darkening of the skin. 1 During periods of extreme stress or poor health, Addison's disease can trigger a rapid drop in cortisol levels and a potentially life-threatening event known as an adrenal crisis.
The most common symptoms are fatigue, muscle weakness, loss of appetite, weight loss, and abdominal pain. Adrenal insufficiency can be caused by autoimmune disease or suddenly stopping steroid medicines used to treat other conditions, among other causes.
Symptoms of Addison's disease
lack of energy or motivation (fatigue) muscle weakness. low mood. loss of appetite and unintentional weight loss.
Addison's disease can develop if your immune system attacks your adrenal glands and severely damages your adrenal cortex. When 90% of the adrenal cortex is destroyed, your adrenal glands will not be able to produce enough of the steroid hormones cortisol and aldosterone.
Ocular Features: Virtually all patients have visual symptoms. Loss of acuity, hemianopia, visual agnosia, optic atrophy, and strabismus are the most common features.
Women are more likely than men to develop Addison's disease. This condition occurs most often in people between the ages of 30 and 50, 2 although it can occur at any age, even in children. Secondary adrenal insufficiency occurs in people with certain conditions that affect the pituitary.
This is called acute adrenal insufficiency, or Addisonian crisis. This can occur when your body is stressed. That can happen for many reasons, such as an illness, fever, surgery, or dehydration.
Regardless of the specific terminology used, it is clear that some patients with Addison's disease have a disturbance in brain function and may develop a range of neuropsychiatric symptoms as a result.
Cushing's syndrome is the opposite of Addison's: it is an excess of cortisol. However, other levels of the adrenal cortex are usually not significantly affected, therefore, electrolytes are normal.
Addison's disease stages
Stage 0: Normal adrenal function. Stage 1: You may have increased plasma renin with normal or low levels of aldosterone but no other abnormal results. Stage 2: You're likely to have high renin levels and low aldosterone levels. Renin is an enzyme produced in your kidney.
Autoimmune Addison disease affects the function of the adrenal glands, which are small hormone-producing glands located on top of each kidney. It is classified as an autoimmune disorder because it results from a malfunctioning immune system that attacks the adrenal glands.
Results: The results show that patients with Addison's disease have not only increased levels of anxiety and fear, and over-reaction to stimuli, but decreased performance efficiency and need for social contact as well.
Two criteria are necessary for diagnosis: (1) an increase in the baseline cortisol value of 7 mcg/dL or more and (2) the value must rise to 20 mcg/dL or more in 30 or 60 minutes, establishing normal adrenal glucocorticoid function.
Addison's disease is characterised by cell-mediated immune destruction of the adrenal glands, either in isolation or as part of a polyglandular autoimmune syndrome. This process is widely deemed to be irreversible.
If left untreated, adrenal crisis can cause death. Adrenal crisis occurs mainly in people with primary AI. People in adrenal crisis need an injection (shot) of glucocorticoids (medicines that replace cortisol) right away. Then they need to go to the hospital immediately for more treatment.