this is our second video surrounding the endocrine system and today we're going over Addison's disease and Cushing syndrome let's look at the complete opposite now and that's Cushing syndrome or our big buff man cushy Connor Cushing syndrome occurs when the adrenal glands produce too many steroid hormones specifically cortisol when we have an adrenal gland that is over executing its normal functions we experience Cushing's syndrome a cushion of steroids or an excess and normal function that should not be there just by knowing the function of the adrenal gland we can pretty much list all of our signs and symptoms of Cushing syndrome high blood pressure high sodium high blood sugar high risk of infections excessive body hair big round abdomen overweight moon face buffalo hump stretch marks rosy cheeks and to remember all of these symptoms don't forget to picture cushy Connor he is big he is round he's hairy and he has high lab values two big characteristics of Cushing syndrome for the NCLEX moon face and buffalo hump do not forget these now now why does this happen why would someone be diagnosed with Cushing syndrome Cushing syndrome occurs when the body is exposed to high levels of cortisol from exogenous or endogenous factors the most common cause is long-term steroid use a little tidbit of knowledge here if the cause is a tumor on the pituitary gland which causes overproduction of ACTH we call this Cushing's disease so you've been diagnosed with Cushing syndrome now how do you treat it the whole problem with Cushing's syndrome is an overproduction of steroid hormones specifically cortisol due to an internal or external Factor so we have to eliminate that factor if this is an exogenous Factor we gradually reduce steroid dosage to a level that will effectively control Cushing's syndrome and treat the disorder it's initially being taken for if this is an endogenous Factor we surgically remove the tumor or affected gland in Cushing syndrome we surgically remove the affected adrenal gland and in Cushing's Disease we surgically remove the tumor on the pituitary gland NCLEX tip if we remove a tumor or gland we must replace the hormones that are lost with lifelong steroid therapy if left untreated and there's an Abrupt halt in cortisol production the patient may enter addisonian crisis now what is addisonian Crisis remember when I said steroid replacement can be a little touchy it's incredibly important to be on the lookout for too much steroid replacement and too little steroid replacement by the patient and this can happen in both conditions our main source of treatment for Addison's is a lifelong steroid treatment if the patient fails to adhere to this treatment plan or Addison's disease goes undiagnosed patients are at increased risk of reaching addisonian crisis in the same way if we cut out the adrenal or pituitary gland from cushy Connor we're completely stopping that cortisol production which means that these patients also need to be monitored with lifelong steroid therapy or else they run the risk of entering addisonian crisis too addisonian crisis is a life-threatening State caused by insufficient levels of cortisol in the body which leave the body in a crisis mode remember stress equals cortisol we need cortisol to deal with stress so you can guess that one of the main triggers of addisonian Crisis is a failure to compensate in times of increased stress surgery illness injury infection Etc to treat addisonian crisis the nurse will give an IV push of steroids and if needed begin fluids or dextrose for signs of low BP or hypoglycemia we monitor for swelling by fluid retention and weight gain hyperglycemia risk for cataracts and slow wound healing and that wraps up Addison's disease and Cushing syndrome I see you pausing this video taking notes left and right you don't need to do that everything you heard is available in study sheet form on my Etsy Shop check it out I love it that's great yeah like subscribe