Do you know what Osama bin Laden and John F Kennedy have in common? They are both Addisonians!

Addison’s disease  derives its name from the British physician Dr. Thomas Addison  who was the  first to describe it  in 1855.

The adrenal glands, situated atop the kidneys, are composed of an interior medulla and an outer cortex. The medulla   produces adrenaline-like hormones while the cortex produces the corticosteroids (glucocorticoids and mineralocorticoids) and the male sex hormones – the androgens.  When the adrenal cortex fails to function, Addison’s disease results.