Our final meeting! T.T

Hello people! We are here again! Today we have two pieces of news for you guys, a good and a bad news. So which one would you like to hear first?
.
.
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Maybe we will announce the good news first?

The good news is that: we have come to the end of the two adrenal diseases. Basically, we have covered most of the facts of these diseases. But do you guys still remember what we covered? (Forgotten? Never mind, we have a free crash course at the later part of this post.)

So what about the bad news? The bad news is that this post will be the final post for our blog. T.T We are really grateful to have such great and faithful readers. We will miss communicating with you guys through this medium. Let's hope that we will meet again. :D

Okay! Getting back to today's objective!

Recently, both of us when for treasure hunt and we managed to find some interesting news on the 2 diseases. So since this is the last blog post, we decided to share these treasures with you guys.

These treasures that we found are articles on Cushing Syndrome and Addison Disease. Since they are articles, it will be quite long and hard for us to illustrate on the articles. Thus, we decided to provide you guys with a short overview of what the articles are about. Not to worry, we will provide the URL too!


So for the first article, it will be on a new diagnosis method for Cushing Syndrome.

Overview:
Recently, they have found out that a gene mutation could help with the diagnosis of Cushing Syndrome. This particular gene is the ARMC5 gene. This gene has the ability to promote growth of tumors on our meningeal and adrenal glands. However, this will only happen when mutation of the gene is present. Thus, with the presence of tumors on the Adrenal Gland, it will cause a large production of cortisol. (to continue) -> http://www.hcplive.com/articles/Gene-Mutation-Could-Help-Cushings-Syndrome-Diagnosis

Moving on to the second article, it is on a life of a 13 year old girl who has Addison Disease.

Overview:
Hannah Bowness-Major is an Addison disease patient, she has to take a cocktail of 30 drugs every day. Not only that, she is unable to get too excited or stressed out. Otherwise, her organs will shut down as she is lacking of an important hormone: Cortisol. Due to the lack of cortisol, her immune systems struggles to fight with infections. Due to this, she nearly died when she was only down with a stomach flu as her.......... (to continue) ->http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2657115/The-girl-killed-FUN-Teenager-rare-condition-organs-shut-gets-excited.html

Do read the articles, it is really interesting to read and you will benefit from it.

CRASH COURSE TIME!!!

1.Cushing Syndrome

A disease caused by the presence of large amount of cortisol hormones.

Reasons behind the symptoms?
http://adrenal-land.blogspot.sg/2014/11/reasons-behind-symptoms.html
http://adrenal-land.blogspot.sg/2014/12/reasons-behind-symptoms-part-two.html






Treatment:
- Removal of tumor by Surgery/Radiation/Chemotherapy
- Change the corticosteroid medication or the dosage that one is taking

2. Addison Disease

A disease caused by the lack of cortisol or aldosterone.

Reasons behind the symptoms?
http://adrenal-land.blogspot.sg/2015/01/reason-behind-symptoms-of-addison.html
http://adrenal-land.blogspot.sg/2015/01/reasons-behind-symptoms-of-addison.html

Treatment
- Replace the hormone that you are lacking by consuming either hydrocortisone or Fludrocortisone

So with that, we come to the end of our adrenal disorders series! Hope you enjoyed reading our blog! Thank you for staying with us and giving us support! Really grateful! 

BYE BYE!

Signing of :
Yu Jun and Mervyn! :D

Credits:
http://www.clipartlord.com/category/miscellaneous-clip-art/pirate-clip-art/treasure-map-clip-art/
http://searchpp.com/waving-goodbye-clip-art/2/
https://www.google.com.sg/search?q=addison%27s+disease&es_sm=122&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=tjuoVLDHHIyYuQT934LICw&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1517&bih=666&dpr=0.9#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=g6fXBZR6PNf9DM%253A%3BxbxogJs8PWkKaM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fclassconnection.s3.amazonaws.com%252F319%252Fflashcards%252F1117319%252Fjpg%252Faddisons_disease1332524676283.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww2.warwick.ac.uk%252Ffac%252Fmed%252Fstudy%252Fugr%252Fmbchb%252Fsocieties%252Fslime%252Fproducts%252Fhandouts%252Fcushings_addisons_and_acromegaly_ed.pptx%3B1602%3B1203
http://www.neurobodyfit.com/learn-about-cushings-syndrome/

Videos of experience! :)

Hey people! Welcome back! We are back for another video session with you guys!:)

Hopefully with these videos, you will have a better idea about Addison Disease! So please enjoy!

For this video session, we prepared a total of 3 videos however, one of them will be more interesting as it is Addison Disease for dogs! So do look out for that!

Video 1:

Video 2:

Video 3:

So we have come to the end of the 2 adrenal diseases! But please look out for our next post as we got more gifts for you! :) 

Treatments for Addison disease!

Hey people! We are back. So after the discussion of the reasons behind the symptoms of Addison disease. We will now move on to the treatment for this disease!

The cure for Addison disease is quite simple as Addison disease is due to lack of various hormone production

Thus, taking medication to replenish these hormones at regular intervals can elevate the symptoms. However, there is no full cure for this disease.

Since Addison disease is the lack of Cortisol and Aldosterone, treatment will then targets these hormones.

Treatment for this disease includes:

1.Cortisol replacement
A medicine called hydrocortisone is taken daily to increase the cortisol pool. The dosage is usually 15-30 mg total per day. However, the concentration is also dependent on the individual (Height, weight & gender).

2. Aldosterone replacement
Fludrocortisone is a substitute medicine for aldosterone. This medicine can help to regulate the blood pressure and also the salt levels. 

*Fun fact: Eating more salty food can also be a suitable medication! :) YEAH MORE POTATO CHIPS! Hahaha! Just Kidding!!! :)

That's the end of this post and the end of Addison Disease! However, please stay tune to our blog as we will put up videos of patients with experience of Addison Disease! So please don't abandon us! :) BYE!

Credits:

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/addisons-disease/basics/treatment/con-20021340

http://www.clipartpanda.com/clipart_images/clip-art-medicine-object-7210836

Reasons behind the symptoms of Addison disease - 2

Hi Hi people! As mentioned in the previous post, we will be bringing you guys on another field trip. Today's trip we are visiting only one land, however, there will be 3 stations to stop by!

So in this land, we will discuss the reasons for another 3 symptoms of Addison Disease. They are: Salt craving, Dehydration and Postural hypotension.

People are you READY? Let's......go!:)

1st Station: Salt Craving Street.

Sodium levels in the blood are regulated by aldosterone. When aldosterone levels are low, it causes the sodium levels in blood to drop. When sodium levels drop, it will cause the body to crave for more salty food. This happens as the body wants to increase the sodium levels in blood and eating more salty food will aid the increase.

2nd Station: Water Avenue.

When the body's sodium levels are not replaced, our cell will start to lose sodium. During the process of losing sodium, cells will also lose water. Thus when cells loses water, our body will dehydrate and causes one to have the need of drinking more water.

However, a major problem will occur when you try to hydrate yourself by drinking more water. This is so, as drinking more water will further dilute the sodium concentration in your blood.





Final Station: Pressure Village

Decrease in aldosterone levels causes the amount of sodium in the blood to drop. This will then lead to a reduced blood volume, fluid and hence blood pressure. Thus hypotension will occur.

So are you guys wondering what is postural hypotension?

Postural hypotension is also a form of low blood pressure where one will feel dizzy when standing up!








So with this, we will end our fascinating trip. So we shall see you guys again in the next post! BYE!:)

Credits:

http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Addisons-disease/Pages/Introduction.aspx

http://novusdetox.com/press/dependence.php?include=139840
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/orthostatic-hypotension/basics/definition/con-20031255
http://pixgood.com/dehydration-clipart.html

Reason behind the symptoms of Addison disease - 1

Hi guys! Today, we will be bringing you guys to a field trip! This trip will be able to help you guys understand the reasons behind the symptoms of Addison Disease. So are you guys ready? If yes, let's get started!

Disclaimer: For today's trip, we will be visiting 2 different factories (2 organs). However, do not worry that you might get lost in this foreign land as we will guide you through it.

**Symptoms are the highlighted part.

So for the 1st factory, we will bring you guys to........The Liver.

In the Liver factory, glucose production is triggered by cortisol, However, in this factory, glucose production is low as cortisol levels are low.

Thus, it will cause one to become very tired (Extreme fatigue) or even cause him/her to have sluggish movement. This is cause by the low levels of glucose which in turn will cause one to have lesser amount of energy generated. Therefore, without energy it will cause one to feel extreme fatigue or move sluggishly.












Adding on, with low amount of glucose, it will cause the person to be unable to cope with stress.

Do you guys remember a good partner of cortisol known as Epinephrine? Epinephrine help one to cope with stress but it need cortisol to help to increase the production of glucose.

By doing this, it will help the person to be well-prep for coping with stress. Hence, if cortisol levels are low, it will be unable to help epinephrine to increase glucose production. Thus leading to one being unable to cope with stress!



Next stop! The Skin Factory!

Another symptom of Addison Disease is the Hyperpigmentation of Skin. However, why will this happen?

In the factory, the production of melanin is high.

But this factory doesn't depend on the Cortisol or aldosterone to produce melanin. (However, low levels of cortisol indirectly causes high levels of melanin) Instead it depends on ACTH, a hormone that is produced by pituitary gland for the production of cortisol.

ACTH is needed for melanin production as ACTH contains a component known as melanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH). This hormone stimulate melanocytes in the skin to produce melanin. Thus, when high levels ACTH is produced, there will be more MSH, thus causing the factory's production of melanin to increase and since melanin gives color to the skin, high production of melanin will cause hyperpigmentation.



***But why does ACTH levels increase?
This is due to low levels of cortisol which causes the pituitary gland to increase the levels of ACTH as it attempts to increase the levels of cortisol.

So did you guys enjoy the trip down to the two factories? I really hope you guys enjoy our next post, we will be bringing you guys to the Land of Blood. WAHAHAHA!! SO STAY TUNE! :)

Credits:

http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Addisons-disease/Pages/Introduction.aspx

http://novusdetox.com/press/dependence.php?include=139840
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/116467-clinical
http://www.pathologystudent.com/?p=6034
http://galleryhip.com/tired-person-cartoon.html
http://www.123rf.com/photo_17414692_cartoon-character-of-man-smashing-stress.html
http://endocrine.niddk.nih.gov/pubs/addison/addison.aspx