How is an adrenal imbalance treated?

The medical condition Addison’s disease, the inability of the adrenals to respond to stress, is treated with hydrocortisone, which needs to be increased under times of acute stress such as illness or surgery. The opposite, Cushing’s syndrome, caused by excess of the adrenal hormone cortisol, is treated by stopping the excess steroids (the most common cause) or removal of the tumor making cortisone, a related hormone, or ACTH, the body’s signal for the adrenal gland to make more cortisol.