What is Addison's disease?
                     WHAT IS 
ADDISON'S 
DISEASE?
INTRODUCTION
Addison’s disease is a rare 
chronic condition in which your 
adrenal glands don’t produce 
enough of the hormone's cortisol 
and aldosterone. It's most often 
caused by an autoimmune 
attack. It's treatable with 
medication.
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WHAT IS ADDISON'S 
DISEASE?
Addison’s disease is a chronic 
condition in which your adrenal 
glands don’t produce enough of 
the hormone's cortisol and 
aldosterone.
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PRIMARY ADRENAL 
INSUFFICIENCY
Addison’s disease is also called 
primary adrenal insuffi ciency. A 
related disorder, secondary 
adrenal insuffi ciency, happens 
when your pituitary gland 
doesn’t release enough 
adrenocorticotropic hormone 
(ACTH), which activates your 
adrenal glands to produce 
cortisol.
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DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ADDISON'S 
DISEASE AND CUSHING'S SYNDROME?
Addison’s disease happens when 
your body doesn’t have enough 
cortisol (and aldosterone), 
whereas Cushing’s syndrome 
happens when your body has too 
much cortisol (hypercortisolism).
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WHO DOES ADDISON’S DISEASE 
AFFECT?
Addison’s disease can affect 
people of all age groups, but it’s 
most common in people 30 to 50 
years old.
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AUTOIMMUNE POLYENDOCRINE 
SYNDROME
People who have autoimmune 
polyendocrine syndrome, a rare, 
inherited condition in which your 
immune system mistakenly 
attacks many of your tissues and 
organs, are much more likely to 
have Addison’s disease.
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RISK FACTOR
Type I diabetes
Pernicious anemia
Graves' disease
Chronic thyroiditis
Dermatitis herpetiformis
Vitiligo
Myasthenia gravis
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HOW COMMON IS ADDISON’S 
DISEASE?
Addison’s disease is rare. In the 
United States, it affects 1 in 
100,000 people.
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WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF 
ADDISON’S DISEASE?
Steadily worsening fatigue
Patches of dark skin 
(hyperpigmentation) especially 
around scars and skin creases 
and on your gums
Abdominal pain
Nausea and vomiting
Diarrhea
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WHAT CAUSES ADDISON’S DISEASE?
The most common cause of 
Addison’s disease is an 
autoimmune response, which 
occurs when your immune system 
attacks healthy tissues for an 
unknown reason. 
With Addison’s disease, your 
immune system attacks the outer 
portion of your adrenal glands (the 
adrenal cortex), where they make 
cortisol and aldosterone.
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