You have two adrenal glands, one on top of each kidney. These glands make hormones, including cortisol, adrenaline and aldosterone. Cortisol and adrenaline help your body respond to stress. Aldosterone helps regulate your blood pressure.

Your adrenal glands also play a role in helping make estrogen and testosterone. Together, your adrenal hormones help you:

• Use energy from food
• Keep salt and water balanced
• Keep blood pressure normal
• Have a "fight or flight" response when you need it
• Support pregnancy

Your adrenal glands need to make just the right amount of hormones. Infections, steroid medicines and gene changes can all interfere with this. Problems in other glands, like the pituitary gland, can also contribute.

Some adrenal problems are due to how the gland functions. For example, adrenal insufficiency means the gland isn't producing enough of something. Other issues involve growths in the adrenal gland tissue.

All of these health issues are types of adrenal disease:

• Addison's disease: This is the most common type of adrenal insufficiency. It means your adrenal glands aren't producing enough cortisol or aldosterone (or both).
• Cushing's syndrome: With this condition, your adrenal glands make too much cortisol.
• Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH): When your adrenal glands can't make enough cortisol because you were born without a specific enzyme. In the U.S., all newborn babies get screened for CAH.
• Non-cancerous adrenal tumors: There are a few different conditions that can cause adrenal nodules or tumors. These tumors can be benign, but cause problems like extreme high blood pressure.
• Adrenal cancer: Tumors can also form on your adrenal glands. Growths are cancerous when they can spread to other tissues or organs.

Addison's disease symptoms

Addison's disease is a type of adrenal insufficiency. It's when you have low cortisol levels. There are many possible causes. 

Signs of adrenal insufficiency include:

• Chronic fatigue and extreme tiredness
• Appetite loss
• Feeling of weakness
• Abdominal pain 

Your doctor can test your cortisol levels with a blood test. They may also order imaging scans to learn what's causing low cortisol.

Symptoms of Crushing's syndrome

Cushing's syndrome is the opposite of adrenal insufficiency. It means you have too much cortisol in your body. Signs of this include:

• High blood pressure
• Weight gain around your neck and middle, with thin arms and legs
• Skin that bruises easily
• Fatigue

Cushing's syndrome can sometimes lead to diabetes and other health problems. Its symptoms can make it hard to diagnose. 

To treat Addison's, your doctor will likely start by replacing the hormones your body isn't making with medicines. 

With adrenal insufficiency, you can sometimes have what's called an adrenal crisis. It can happen if you have a sudden stress or injury. You'll need higher levels of hormone-replacing medicine during these times.

To treat Cushing's syndrome, you may need cortisol-reducing medicine.

If a tumor is causing the condition, your doctor may suggest surgery.

Surgery to treat adrenal disease

Endocrine surgery can treat adrenal tumors that may be cancerous or are causing excess hormone production.

An adrenalectomy removes one or both adrenal glands. We may be able to do the surgery laparoscopically. This approach uses small incisions and tiny instruments.

After surgery, you may need radiation therapy, depending on the type of tumor.