ACTH (Cortrosyn) Stimulation Test

About Adrenal Hormone Testing for Cortisol

Though the body produces many hormones, the role of cortisol is especially important. Cortisol is a stress hormone that affects the heart, cardiovascular system, blood pressure, water excretion and electrolyte balance. Cortisol is also responsible...

What Blood Tests Are Performed for Adrenal Gland Function?

Hormones are an important part of the body because they affect several aspects of the body's function such as growth, development, blood pressure, fluid balance and immunity. Endocrine glands like the thyroid gland, pituitary gland, pancreas and...

Tests for the Adrenal Gland

The adrenal glands are located just above the kidneys and are responsible for producing a variety of chemicals. One hormone, called cortisol, is produced by the adrenal glands only when stimulated by other hormones from the pituitary. Diagnosis of...

Adrenal Gland Disease

The adrenal glands are located on top of the kidneys and are about half of an inch high and three inches long. These glands are part of the endocrine system, which means that they make hormones that affect the rest of the body. Adrenal gland...

Treatment for Adrenal Insufficiency

The adrenal glands are located on top of the kidneys and are responsible for making a number of important hormones. One adrenal hormone, called cortisol, helps modulate the body's response to stress. Other hormones regulate the body's salt and...

Adrenal Gland Testing

The adrenal glands are part of the endocrine system, which means that they make hormones. The adrenal glands are predominantly controlled by the pituitary, which is another gland in the endocrine system. The functionality of the adrenal glands can...

What Are the Tests for Adrenal Function?

The adrenal glands are located on top of the kidneys and play a prime role in the body's endocrine system. The endocrine system uses special chemicals called hormones to help regulate many important processes in the body. Conditions such as...

Adrenal Insufficiency Syndrome

The adrenal glands are located on top of the kidneys and are responsible for making certain hormones, including cortisol (which modulates the body's stress response) and aldosterone (which controls salt and water balance). The adrenal glands are...

Cortisol Deficiency in Children

The adrenals, a pair of triangular-shaped glands that sit atop each kidney, secrete the hormone cortisol. Cortisol is a steroid hormone that helps regulate the immune system and the body's response to stressful situations. The levels of cortisol...

Cortisol Deficiency

Cortisol is a hormone produced in your adrenal glands, which sit on top of your kidneys. It performs functions that include maintenance of your blood sugar levels and blood pressure, as well as the regulation of fat, carbohydrate and protein...

Cushing's Disease Causes

According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Cushing's disease is a syndrome in which the body is exposed to too much cortisol. People with this disorder tend to have an obese stomach and torso with a rounded face and excess fat at the...

5 Things You Need to Know About Adrenal Insufficiency

Sitting above each kidney is an adrenal gland. These glands are part of the lymphatic system and are responsible for producing cortisol, a hormone that has many vital functions including maintaining blood pressure, slowing the inflammation...

How Is Adrenal Insufficiency Diagnosed?

Adrenal hypofunction exists on a continuum, from mildly under productive glands (also termed adrenal fatigue) to the severely under productive glands of Addison's disease to the life-threatening condition of adrenal crisis. Effective methods of...

Low Cortisol in Children

Adult-onset of low levels of the adrenal hormone cortisol may have several origins, one of which around 2008 the medical community had just begun to understand, is adrenal fatigue. Because chronic stress causes the adrenal glands to overwork,...

Addison's Disease and Sodium Potassium Levels

Addison's disease is a hormonal disorder of the adrenal gland, which is a hormone producing, or endocrine organ, located above the kidneys. The outer shell of the adrenal gland releases stress hormones, sex steroids and mineral regulating...

5 Things You Need to Know About Addison's Disease

All of our bodies produce hormones. Hormone production and release is part of the endocrine system. Some of this production is performed by the adrenal glands, two small glands located just above your kidneys that make hormones to regulate blood...

Tests for Adrenal Gland Functions

The adrenal glands are located on top of each kidney. Like other endocrine glands, they function as hormone producers. Each adrenal gland is composed of an outer cortex and inner medulla. Different regions of the adrenal glands produce different...

Dark Pigmentation on the Back

When melanin, the skin's pigment, bunches together in excess to form dark spots on the back, the condition is called hyperpigmentation. Hyperpigmentation itself has a few different common causes, but the options for remedying dark spots are...

Symptoms Of Adrenal Hypofunction

The adrenal gland produce hormones that affect various functions in the body. Some of these hormones are cortisol, aldosterone and androgens such as testosterone. When the adrenal glands are underactive or in a state of hypofunction, they produce...