When you’re in a stressful situation and you feel that surge of adrenaline telling you to run or strike back, it’s your adrenal glands that are kicking into gear. They produce adrenaline, the blood surges through your muscles and the “fight or flight” instinct is at full blast. They’re obviously pretty important to human survival.
That’s just a small part of the adrenal glands’ responsibilities in your body. They also produce other types of steroid hormones, including cortisol and aldosterone. These hormones contribute to your blood pressure, electrolyte levels and the regulation of both your immune system and metabolism, among other things.
If your adrenal glands aren’t working properly and your hormones are at the wrong levels – whether too high or too low – it can cause a whole host of different problems (https://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/adrenalgland/conditioninfo/symptoms). These include what are known as Cushing’s syndrome, congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), Addison’s disease, pituitary tumors, hyperaldosteronism and Pheochromocytoma or Paraganglioma.
There are a lot of scary-sounding names up there that can affect everything from growth and weight to headaches to moods, but that doesn’t mean they have to ruin your life. Even President John F. Kennedy had Addison’s disease and it didn’t do his career any harm. Treatments for these sorts of conditions will often involve hormone therapy to get them back to the right levels.
What isn’t recognized as an official medical condition but is a term you might hear in discussions about adrenal health is something called “adrenal fatigue”. This doesn’t mean there’s a problem with your adrenal glands; it just means that they may be feeling overworked because you’re in an ongoing state of stress. This may lead to you feeling pretty tired. Just like it’s not an official illness, there’s no official cure, but things like a balanced diet, regular exercise and getting enough sleep may help mitigate it.
For two fairly small glands tucked above your kidneys, the adrenal glands serve a pretty important role. They also have an important relationship with the equally important pituitary gland, and a problem with one may affect the other. That’s why being aware of their purpose and whether something is wrong with them is important. If you do have any concerns, talk to your doctor as you may be able to get your hormone levels checked to see if they’re where they should be.
