How to Diagnose Addisons

Located above each of your kidneys are your adrenal glands. These glands secrete hormones that regulate the body's sugar, sodium and potassium levels along with stress and immune responses. Addison's disease occurs when the adrenal glands become damaged due to infections, cancer, tuberculosis and other medical conditions. If your physician suspects Addison's, you will need to undergo tests to confirm a diagnosis.

Instructions

• 1

  Blood tests can assess the cause of your symptoms.

  Give blood samples. Sodium, potassium, cortisol and adrenocorticotropic hormone, or ACTH, levels will be measured to identify an adrenal insufficiency, according to the Mayo Clinic. ACTH is a hormone that helps your adrenal gland produce cortisol.

• 2

  Take an ACTH stimulation test, in which a synthetic form of the hormone is injected into the body. ACTH normally stimulates cortisol production, but if your adrenal glands are damaged, your cortisol levels will remain low or won't increase at all, advises the National Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases Information Service.

• 3

  Undergo an insulin-induced hypoglycemia test, if your doctor suspects your symptoms are caused by pituitary disease. According to the Mayo Clinic, you will be given an injection of insulin and then have blood drawn. When you don't have Addison's, insulin causes glucose levels to drop and cortisol levels to rise.

• 4

  Get a computerized tomography scan to examine your adrenal glands. The CT scan will reveal abnormalities, such as tissue destruction. In most cases, Addison's is caused by destruction of the outer adrenal gland layer, known as the adrenal cortex, by the body's immune system.