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Welcome to the Swedish Addison Association!
This site and information is all about Addisons disease!

Please read this and tell about the disease to your friends!
We´re so alone and need your support..

Addison's disease occurs when the adrenal glands do not produce enough of the hormones cortisol and aldosterone . The disease is also called adrenal insufficiency, or hypocortisolism.

The initial onset of Addison's disease usually affects the body slowly (over several months). The symptoms tend to be non-specific, and may not be noticed until some stressful intercurrent illness or situation occurs. Common symptoms are:

* Chronic fatigue that gradually worsens
* Muscle weakness
* Weight loss and loss of appetite
* Nausea, diarrhea, or vomiting, caused by gastritis that also gradually worsens.
* Areas of hyperpigmentation (darkened skin), known as melasma suprarenale, caused by increases in pro-opiomelanocortin the precursor of ACTH. Hyperpigmentation only occurs in primary adrenal insufficiency (where ACTH is high) and not in secondary adrenal insufficiency (where ACTH concentrations are typically low or normal). Although cutaneous pigmentation will most likely disappear following therapy, pigmentation of the oral mucosa tends to persist.
* Irritability
* Depression
* Craving for salt and salty foods
* Polyuria (increased urine production)
* For women, menstrual periods that become irregular or cease (amenorrhea)

Causes

Eighty to ninety percent of cases of Addison's disease are said to be due to autoantibodies directed against adrenal cells containing 21-hydroxylase, an enzyme involved in the production of cortisol and aldosterone.

The remainder of cases are due to tuberculosis, HIV, sarcoidosis, amyloidosis, hemochromatosis, metastatic cancer to the adrenal glands, adrenal haemorrhage (particularly in patients receiving anticoagulation therapy (i.e. on "blood thinners"), Waterhouse-Friderichsen syndrome and congenital adrenal hyperplasia.

Addison's disease can be an expression of an autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome when autoimmune reactions against other organs are also present. In APS type 1, 70% suffer from Addison's disease, while in type 2, 100% do (by definition).

Through these syndromes, Addison's is associated with hypothyroidism, diabetes mellitus (type 1), vitiligo, alopecia and celiac disease.

Chairman of the Swedish Addisonassociation: Eva Rafner

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