Adrenal Related Illnesses

Definitions and terminology of Adrenal Imbalances Cushing's disease. A rather severe overactivity of hyperfunction of the glands. Characteristics are obesity in the trunk area, muscle weakness, poor wound healing, and kidney stones. This condition is relatively rare and usually caused by a tumor of the adrenal glands that secretes cortisol or cortisone, two of the important adrenal hormones. It could be caused by a tumor in the pituitary gland, or perhaps in the hypothalamus. Addison's disease. A type of extremely low adrenal activity is known as Addison’s disease.   It is characterized by weakness, fatigue, low blood pressure, changes in skin color, dehydration, anorexia, nausea, decreased cold tolerance and dizziness.   It is also considered a fairly rare condition.             Addison’s disease could also be caused at times by a tumor on the adrenal glands that shuts down the glands completely.   It may also be caused by a severe shock to the system, as happened in the famous case of president John F. Kennedy. Pasted from Adrenal insufficiency. It's been observed that in many cases, the adrenal glands themselves are toxic and nutritionally depleted. Other times the cause stems from an autonomic nervous system imbalance. Dr. Lawrence Wilson, MD published an article on Adrenal Burnout Syndrome in The Center For Development, August 2012. His theories are based on human adrenal conditions, but his findings are interesting and relatable to animals nonetheless. Dr. Wilson uses a hair analyses rather than blood, urine, or saliva tests to determine depletion patterns in minerals such as sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium. He states than when humans have lower than ideal values of minerals adrenal exhaustion, or burnout, occurs. These patterns help determine the patient's oxidation type, oxidation rate, tendency for inflammation and infection, deficiencies of important minerals. He then designs a program to slowly rebalance the body chemistry to restore health. It is believed by alternative medical doctors that the causes of adrenal exhaustion are excessive stress, chemical toxicity, nutritional deficiency, and poor genetics. Diets low in protein contribute to these deficiencies, excessive carbohydrates can stress the adrenals and poor quality water affects oxygenation. Our food today is grown in depleted soils and processing further depletes nutritional value in our foods. Low cortisol symptoms include low blood pressure, low blood sugar, depression, and allergies. Copper toxicity and burnout can stem from elevated copper and low zinc which will impair the immune system and chronic infections can develop; this sets the stage for more severe illnesses such as cancer and heart disease to occur. Hyperthyroidism can occur as well. Cortisol provides a natural "high" while low cortisol levels contribute to feelings of depression. When the adrenal glands are weak, copper builds up in the body and can cause a slew of mental disorders such as bipolar disorder...as energy levels deplete other toxic metals build up like mercury, lead, cadmium, arsenic and others. Dr. Wilson's suggested recovery program for humans is a diet of cooked vegetables and animal protein, drinking only distilled or spring water, lots of rest, basic nutritional supplements based on his interpreted hair mineral analysis, and a detoxification protocol. http://www.drlwilson.com/articles/adrenal_burnout.htm After reading about adrenal exhaustion theories among humans, it is even more clear to me how real this illness is in humans and animals. So many practitioners treat the symptoms of an illness instead of getting the to crux of the issue.