Disease of the Month: Addisons Disease

  The condition is named after Dr Thomas Addison, a renowned 19th-century English physician and scientist who first described it in 1855. The adrenal glands are two small glands located on top of the kidneys. They produce the essential hormones cortisol and aldosterone. Cortisol regulates the body's reaction to stressful situations and aldosterone helps with sodium and potassium regulation. The adrenal cortex also produces sex hormones (androgens). In Addison's disease, the adrenal glands are damaged, so not enough cortisol and aldosterone are produced. Just over 8,000 people in...