Adrenal Gland Disorders and Anxiety

Adrenal glands are one of the most important glands and they are located above the kidneys. These are a part of our endocrine system and these glands secrete hormones in situations when the body encounters stress or danger. These glands are responsible for development of a lot of female and male hormones. Any problem in the functioning of this gland can lead to adrenal gland disorders. A common symptom of such disorders is anxiety.

Adrenal Gland Disorders Leading to Anxiety

Pheochromocytoma
The most prominent symptom of this disease is high blood pressure or hypertension. What triggers high blood pressure is too much secretion of hormones from the adrenal gland. There is a sudden attack of these symptoms. In addition to this and anxiety, some of the possible symptoms of this disorder are headaches, excess sweating, racing heart, rapid breathing, nervousness, pain in the lower chest or upper abdomen, nausea, and heat intolerance. Hyperaldosterone is another disorder which has a similar premise, excess secretion of hormones by the adrenal glands, leading to almost the same symptoms.

Addison's Disease
In this disorder, the body does not produce the amount of cortisol, a steroid hormone required for normal body functions. As opposed to the earlier disorder, a possible symptom of Addison's disease is low blood pressure. Here too, the person experiences anxiety and some more of this adrenal gland disease symptoms are diarrhea, headache, sweating, changes in mood and personality, sudden drops in blood pressure, joint and muscle pain. This a rare disease, named after Thomas Addison, the British physician.

Cushing's Syndrome
Now, Cushing's Syndrome is again a medical condition where more than required amount of corticosteroids is produced by the adrenal glands. Pituitary adenoma is one of the causes of this disorder. An excess of Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) is specifically connected with this rare adrenal gland disorder. Amongst the cases of this disorder, the maximum have been women. The symptoms include gaining weight on your face (moon face) and in the upper back. Thinning of skin, on the trunk, buttocks, arms, legs or breasts, proximal muscle weakness (hips, shoulders), and hirsutism (facial male-pattern hair growth). Another symptom is baldness or extremely dry and brittle hair. These have been the symptoms which have been observed in people with this syndrome. These may vary and a few psychological effects like depression, along with anxiety and a few other are also observed in people suffering from Cushing's syndrome. So, in most cases, adrenal gland disorders go hand in hand with anxiety.

Pituitary Adenoma
A small pea sized gland at the base of the brain, pituitary gland is another important gland regulating the development and secretion of hormones in our body. This disease affects the hormones which regulates the growth and activity of the other glands in the body, Consequently, problems with the adrenal gland may crop up. In this disease there is an abnormal growth or tumor in the master gland. The good part though is that it does not spread to other parts of the body. Symptoms of this gland disorder include headache, infertility, fatigue, low or high blood pressure, or growth failure.

Along with this, acute adrenal failure, linked to Addison's disease occurs suddenly and has specific symptoms and it leads to adrenal problems. These includes elevated levels of potassium levels in the blood, pain in legs or abdominal or the lower back and unconsciousness. Hypotension or low blood pressure, diarrhea and vomiting are also amongst the symptoms of this problem.

The treatment for these disorders is based on the severity and diagnosis of the problem. Normally, if the hormone levels are low, they are replaced by supplementing them through Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT). On the contrary, the treatment to lower the level of secretion of hormones from adrenal glands gets complicated.

Anxiety is almost the common feature of all these disorders because the level of hormone secretion directly affects the central nervous system. I sign off here. Take care!