What causes addison's disease?

Answer 1

most common cause of Addison's disease is the destruction and/or shrinking (atrophy) of the adrenal cortex. In about 70% of all cases, this atrophy is believed to occur due to an autoimmune disorder

Answer 2

Addison's disease is the name of the human syndrome caused by hypomineralocorticoidism. In plain English, this syndrome is caused by the adrenal glands not making enough hormones to keep the levels of potassium and sodium steady in the blood.

Causes of Addison's disease include adrenal gland tumors, side effects of aggressive treatment for Cushing's disease (where the adrenal gland makes too much hormone) and chronic infection of the adrenal gland.

The main cause for addison's disease may be categorized in 2 groups primary adrenal insufficiency and secondary adrenal insufficiency. In the first category, the cause of the disease can be related directly to the deterioration of the adrenal glands and in the second category the cause could be related impairment of another organ which then leads to the dysfunction of the adrenal glands.