addison disease
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Addison's disease is a hormone deficiency caused by damage of the adrenal cortex. This disease was named after Dr. Thomas Addison's first identified the disease in 1855 while working at Guy's Hospital in London. The main cause of the disease was tuberculosis (TB). TB still remains an important cause of Addison's until the middle of the twentieth century when antibiotics progressively reduced TB's incidence. Since then, the major cause of AD results from an auto-immune reaction in which the body's immune system makes antibodies against the cells of the adrenal cortex and slowly destroys them. AD occurs when the adrenal glands fail to produce enough of the hormone cortisol and in some cases, the hormone aldosterone. Therefore, the disease sometimes called chronic adrenal insufficiency, or hypocortisolism. Cortisol is produced by the adrenal glands, located just above the kidneys. Cortisol helps regulate nutrients, modifiers the body's response to imflammation, stimulates the liver to raise the blood sugar, and also helps to control the amount of water in the body...