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.
1 Addison's disease, also called adrenal insufficiency, or hypocortisolism, occurs when the adrenal glands do not produce enough of the hormone cortisol and, in some cases, the hormone aldosterone.