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Disease, Addison: Long-term underfunction of theouter portion of the adrenal gland or, in medical terms, chronic insufficiency of the adrenalcortex. This may be due to a number of different insults to the adrenal including physical trauma, hemorrhage, long-term treatment with prednisone, and tuberculosis of the adrenal, and destruction of the cells in the pituitary gland that secrete ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone) which normally drives theadrenal. Addison disease is characterized by bronzing of the skin, anemia, weakness, and low blood pressure. The U.S. President J.F. Kennedy is said to have hadAddison disease. Named after the British physician Thomas Addison (1793-1860).When Addison firstidentified adrenal insufficiency in 1849, tuberculosis ( TB) was responsiblefor 70-90% of cases. As the treatment for TB improved, the incidence ofadrenal insufficiency due to TB of the adrenal glands greatly decreased. TBnow accounts for about 20% of cases of primary adrenal insufficiency indeveloped countries.