Adrenal Disorders

Two small glands with a remarkably busy rota
Clinical review September 2026
 
A small pair with several jobs
The adrenal glands sit above the kidneys, about the size of walnuts and far less decorative. Their outer layer makes cortisol, aldosterone and sex-steroid precursors; their centre makes adrenaline-like hormones. These signals help regulate energy, salt and water, blood pressure, immune activity and the response to stress.

A problem may mean too little hormone, too much of one signal, or an adrenal lump that needs careful interpretation. The story is rarely written by a scan or one blood result alone: symptoms, blood pressure, potassium, timing of samples and imaging all contribute.
 
Why the details change the route
Addison’s disease is a cause of primary adrenal insufficiency, where the glands cannot make enough cortisol and often aldosterone. Primary aldosteronism (also called Conn’s syndrome) is the reverse sort of problem: excess aldosterone can raise blood pressure and lower potassium. A phaeochromocytoma is a rarer adrenal tumour that may release catecholamines in bursts.

Endocrine hypertension is the wider clinical question: could a hormone-related cause be adding to high blood pressure? This hub introduces the four routes. Each deserves its own careful page because the testing, treatment and urgency are different. The adrenal glands do not favour a simple one-size-fits-all finale.
 
What good assessment looks like
Blood tests are often timed or prepared in a particular way, and medicines can affect interpretation. A specialist may use urine tests, imaging, dynamic testing or adrenal-vein sampling depending on the question. The point is not to make the route elaborate for sport; it is to make treatment match the biology.
 
Important safety note
This page is general education, not personal medical advice. Seek urgent help for collapse, confusion, severe vomiting or diarrhoea with adrenal insufficiency, severe chest pain, severe breathlessness, new weakness or neurological symptoms, or acute severe illness. Follow individual instructions from your endocrine team for medicines and investigations.
 
Further reading

• NICE adrenal insufficiency guidance

• Endocrine Society primary aldosteronism guideline