Addison disease: Long-term
underfunction of the
outer portion of the adrenal gland. In medical terms, chronic
insufficiency of the adrenal
cortex. This may be due to a number of different insults to the
adrenal including physical
trauma, hemorrhage, and tuberculosis of the adrenal, and destruction
of the cells in the
pituitary gland that secrete ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone) which
normally drives the
adrenal. Addison's disease is characterized by bronzing of the
skin, anemia,
weakness, and low blood pressure. The U.S. President J.F. Kennedy is
said to have had
Addison disease. Named after the British physician Thomas
Addison (1793-1860).When Addison first identified adrenal
insufficiency in 1849, tuberculosis (TB) was responsible for 70-90%
of cases. As the treatment for TB improved, the incidence of adrenal
insufficiency due to TB of the adrenal glands greatly decreased. TB
now accounts for around 20% of cases of primary adrenal insufficiency
in developed countries.