Editing Adrenal Insufficiency (section)

== Pathophysiology ==

* '''Classification: primary vs. secondary'''
* '''Primary'''
** '''Primary adrenal insufficiency is also known as Addison's disease,''' named after a British physician who described the condition in 1856[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5199675/]
** '''In the Western world, the most frequent cause of primary adrenal insufficiency is autoimmune adrenalitis'''
* Secondary 
** Pituitary/Hypothalamus failure
*** Given that aldosterone secretion by the adrenals does not depend primarily on ACTH, '''the zona glomerulosa continues to function appropriately in patients with secondary adrenal insufficiency. Mineralocorticoid deficiency is therefore present only in patients with primary adrenal insufficiency'''