Addison's disease is a condition in which your adrenal glands are not working as well as they should. In Addison's disease the adrenal glands do not produce as much of the steroid hormones (such as cortisol) as they normally do. Addison's disease is more common in female than male dogs, with the ratio being 2:1. If you take a higher dose than necessary for a long time, there's a risk of problems such as weakened bones (osteoporosis), mood swings and difficulty sleeping (insomnia). Addison's disease develops when the outer layer of your adrenal glands (your adrenal cortex) is damaged, reducing the levels of hormones it produces. Autoimmune disease strikes women in 75 percent of cases, according to the American Autoimmune Diseases Association (AARDA). Addison’s disease progresses slowly and for some people it may take months or even years to show its symptoms. Age also seems to be a risk factor, with young to middle-aged female dogs seeming the most likely to suffer from Addison's. Addison's disease is an endocrine or hormonal disorder that occurs in all age groups and afflicts men and women equally.

The skin characteristics of Addison disease are called "hyperpigmentation," meaning that the skin becomes more pigmented, or darker, than normal. The adrenal cortex is the outer portion of the adrenal gland, of which there are two, located above each kidney.

Authoritative facts about the skin from DermNet New Zealand. If you have Addison's disease, you'll need to take daily medication to replace the lost hormones. Symptoms can vary from person to person but usually develop slowly over time, and are often non-specific at first. The disease is characterized by weight loss, muscle weakness, fatigue, low blood pressure, and sometimes darkening of the skin in both exposed and nonexposed parts of the body. In general, the medications used for Addison's disease don't have side effects, unless your dose is too high. Addison disease is a hormonal disorder resulting from a severe or total deficiency of the hormones made in the adrenal cortex. Some of the signs of this disease include skin darkening, weight loss, loss of appetite, fatigue, low blood sugar and low blood pressure. Note that this may not provide an exact translation in all languages It may look like a deep tan, but it covers both sun-exposed skin and skin that wouldn't normally need sunscreen . Because symptoms of Addison's disease progress slowly, they may go unrecognized until a physically stressful event, such as another illness, surgery, or an accident, worsens symptoms quickly. By far the most common cause of this is autoimmune adrenalitis , an autoimmune disease in which the body turns its defenses on itself and attacks the cells in the adrenal glands that produce steroids. Addison's disease Last revised in March 2016 Next planned review by December 2021 Back to top Changes Changes February to March 2016 — reviewed. This causes your symptoms to get progressively worse and eventually leads to a life-threatening situation called an adrenal or Addisonian crisis. The key difference between Addison disease and Cushing syndrome is that there is a hormonal insufficiency of cortisol and aldosterone in Addison disease whereas there is an excess of cortisol in … If Addison's disease is left untreated, the levels of hormones produced by the adrenal gland gradually decrease in the body. In the UK, a problem with the immune system is the most common cause of Addison's disease… This should help you to live an active life, although many people find they still need to manage their fatigue. Addison's disease is a chronic disease that occurs when the adrenal glands do not produce enough (or any) of the hormones cortisol and aldosterone.