What type of doctor treats addisons disease

This is called adrenal insufficiency. Other causes of this include:. Your doctor will use lab and imaging tests to diagnose this chronic disease. Blood tests show hormone and mineral levels and may detect the antibodies attacking your adrenal glands. CT or MRI scans reveal adrenal or pituitary disorders.

Cortisol is responsible for many functions in your body. These include your ability to handle stress, process nutrients in food and maintain steady blood pressure. Sometimes, people with Addison's disease don't produce enough of another hormone called aldosterone. This also helps your body keep your blood pressure under control. Addison's disease happens when you have damage to your adrenal glands.

A variety of conditions and factors might cause the gland damage that leads to Addison's disease. These can include having:. If you take medicines called corticosteroids for asthma or arthritis and stop taking them, you may also damage your adrenal glands. If you have an autoimmune disease, you're at greater risk for Addison's disease. Autoimmune diseases cause your body to attack its own healthy tissues.

Experts aren't sure exactly why this happens. You might have had cancer that affects your adrenal glands. This also raises your risk. It can be difficult to recognize the symptoms of Addison's disease.

Normal symptoms include feeling very tired and weak all the time. You might lose your appetite or lose weight when you aren't trying to. Half of people with Addison's disease have trouble digesting food, feel nausea and get sick.

One in four people with Addison's disease may develop what's known as an Addisonian crisis. This is often when they first get diagnosed with Addison's disease. When synacthen is given, the adrenal glands should respond in the same way as they would to ACTH by releasing cortisol and other steroid hormones into the blood.

A blood sample will be taken and tested for cortisol before an injection of synacthen is given into your arm. Further blood samples will be taken to measure cortisol after 30 minutes and after 60 minutes. If the ACTH level is high but the cortisol and aldosterone levels are low, it's usually confirmation of Addison's disease. Your thyroid gland is found in your neck.

It produces hormones that control your body's growth and metabolism. People with Addison's disease often have an underactive thyroid gland hypothyroidism , where the thyroid gland does not produce enough hormones.

By testing the levels of certain hormones in your blood, your endocrinologist a specialist in hormone conditions can determine whether you have hypothyroidism. In some cases, your specialist may refer you for a scan of your adrenal glands — this could be a CT scan or an MRI scan. If Addison's disease is left untreated, it eventually leads to an adrenal crisis. This is where the symptoms of Addison's disease appear quickly and severely.

During an adrenal crisis, there's not enough time to perform a synacthen stimulation test to confirm Addison's disease.