RE: How do you know if it's Adrenal insufficiency or Addisons?

[Guest guest]

's is the outer layer though I imagine inner layers might be affected

in rare cases but for the diagnosis it is the outer layer. Not everyone has

all the symptoms. 95% have the skin darkening but just because a person

doesn't have it doesn't mean they don't have 's. It happens in the

creases because it is a skin pressure thing. Folds or creases of the skin

have more pressure.

Oh, and adrenal insufficiency and 's are the same thing. 's is

just the most extreme form of adrenal insufficiency. Most medical journals

will use the terms interchangeably.

Cheri

-----Original Message-----

Doesn't 's affect the entire gland, not just the zone that

the makes the glucocorticoids? There are three layers, so could you

chekc for deficiency in the other layers? If it's autoimmune

('s may technically be ONLY autoimmune), they can test for

adrenal antibodies.

I'm not sure of the dark creases are definitive. This is based on

increased ACTH prodcution by the brain (same biosynthetic pathway as

melanocortin - why it happens in the *creases* of the skin I don't

know..). And we all know that someone can be hypoT with normal TSH,

so why not hypo-cortical with normal ACTH? But the cortisol-ACTH

loop may work differently than the thyroid-TSH loop. Especially

since there are two main thyroid hormones, both of which may be

involved in TSH regulation, and I'm not sure that there is any

'storage' or other form of cortisol that might regulate ACTH as will

the free form.

Jim

.