The Adrenal glands, located just above the kidneys on both sides, make many hormones important for normal functioning of the human body.
These include the ‘fight or flight’ hormones adrenalin and noradrenaline, the stress hormone cortisol, salt and water balancing aldosterone, and androgens which produce male type features.
Diseases of the adrenal gland which endocrinologists treat include overproduction of hormones, underproduction of hormones and non-hormone producing cancers. These include:
- Overproduction
- Cushing’s syndrome (cortisol)
- Conn’s syndrome (aldosterone)
- Phaeochromocytoma (adrenaline/noradrenaline)
- Underproduction
- Addison’s disease (all hormones)
- Cancer
- Adrenocortical carcinoma
- Benign adenoma