Under dehydrated conditions, the cells may lose up to 28% or more of their water volume. This certainly undermines all cellular activities, whether they occur in skin cells, stomach cells, liver cells, kidney cells or heart cells.
In Addison's disease, the adrenal glands don't make enough of a hormone called cortisol, or less often, a related hormone called aldosterone. That's why doctors sometimes call the illness ''chronic adrenal insufficiency,'' or hypocortisolism.
Addisonâs disease is a severe or total deficiency of the hormones made in the adrenal cortex, caused by its destruction. There are normally two adrenal glands, located one above each kidney. The adrenal glands are really two endocrine (ductless or hormone producing) glands in one.