Addison's Disease Case Study

About one in every 100,000 people are affected by a rare endocrine disorder called Addison’s disease. It occurs in all groups and affects both sexes. In fact, Addison’s disease is often called chronic adrenal insufficiency, or hypocortisolism (Robinson, 2015). Our body produces cortisol by the adrenal glands, which are located just above the kidneys. As part of the endocrine system, the glands produce hormones that give instructions to every organ and tissue in the body. It is an important job for the body because it helps cope with extreme physical stress, an injury, or during birth. It also helps the body regulate the metabolism and maintain blood pressure. Another hormone that sometimes the adrenals do not make is aldosterone. This hormone helps the body retain salt needs and keeps your blood pressure steady. When aldosterone levels drops, the kidneys cannot keep the salt and water levels in balance. Because of this, …show more content…
A normal person would distinguish the difference of an acute stressor or a chronic stressor and will know what resources to use and respond. A person with Addison’s disease is a bit different because stressors are appraised subjectively, meaning even the smallest threats are seen as exceeding what they can handle. Therefore, their stress response is highly elevated for an acute stressor compared to a normal stress response. Psysiologically, there is underproduction of the hormone glucocorticoids from the adrenal gland, making blood pressure to decrease, which causes an Addisonian crisis. The crisis can cause by acute stressors. Knowing that their stress response cannot handle the acute stressors. It is important to avoid stressful situations and environments known to cause such crisis. By being informed of these individuals, it is important to not take on more than we can handle because stress can be harmful to our health in the long