Glossary

Cushing’s syndrome is a hormonal disorder. The cause is long-term exposure to too much cortisol, a hormone that your adrenal gland makes. Sometimes, taking synthetic hormone medicine to treat an inflammatory disease leads to Cushing’s. Although the most common cause of Cushing’s is caused by the pituitary gland producing too much ACTH, it can also be caused by an adrenal adenoma. Some aldosterone-producing adenomas (APAs) in patients with primary aldosteronism also co-secrete cortisol and produce Cushing-like symptoms.