Adrenal Insufficiency - Types

Types

There are three major types of adrenal insufficiency.

  • Primary adrenal insufficiency is due to impairment of the adrenal glands.
    • One subtype is called idiopathic or unknown cause of adrenal insufficiency.
    • 80% are due to an autoimmune disease called Addison's disease or autoimmune adrenalitis.
    • Other cases are due to congenital adrenal hyperplasia or an adenoma (tumor) of the adrenal gland.
  • Secondary adrenal insufficiency is caused by impairment of the pituitary gland or hypothalamus. The most common cause in the United States is exogenous steroid use. Other causes are a pituitary adenoma or microadenoma, hypothalamic tumor (surgical removal of a pituitary tumor can also suppress production of ACTH and lead to adrenal deficiency); Sheehan's syndrome, which is associated with impairment of only the pituitary gland.
  • Tertiary adrenal insufficiency is due to hypothalamic disease and decrease in corticotropin releasing factor (CRF).

Read more about this topic:  Adrenal Insufficiency

Famous quotes containing the word types:

    “Science is intimately integrated with the whole social structure and cultural tradition. They mutually support one other—only in certain types of society can science flourish, and conversely without a continuous and healthy development and application of science such a society cannot function properly.”
    —Talcott Parsons (1902–1979)

    “The wider the range of possibilities we offer children, the more intense will be their motivations and the richer their experiences. We must widen the range of topics and goals, the types of situations we offer and their degree of structure, the kinds and combinations of resources and materials, and the possible interactions with things, peers, and adults.”
    —Loris Malaguzzi (1920–1994)

    “The rank and file have let their servants become their masters and dictators.... Provision should be made in all union constitutions for the recall of leaders. Big salaries should not be paid. Career hunters should be driven out, as well as leaders who use labor for political ends. These types are menaces to the advancement of labor.”
    —Mother Jones (1830–1930)