Over secretion of the adrenocortical hormones leads to which condition?

• A. Cushing's syndrome
• B. Addison's disease
• C. Conn's syndrome
• D. Pheochromocytoma

Answer: (A)

Excess secretion from the adrenal cortex most commonly causes Cushing's syndrome. When cortisol levels are high, the body exhibits metabolic and connective tissue effects such as increased glucose production and protein breakdown, leading to weight gain with a characteristic pattern: central obesity, moon face, and a dorsocervical fat pad (buffalo hump). Skin becomes thin and fragile with purple striae, and there may be hypertension, osteoporosis, impaired wound healing, and immune suppression. These wide-ranging effects reflect cortisol’s role in metabolism, inflammation, and vascular tone.

Addison’s disease results from too little adrenal cortical hormone, not too much, so the symptoms are weakness, hypotension, and electrolyte disturbances rather than the cortisol-driven syndrome described above. Conn’s syndrome is excess aldosterone, causing hypertension and hypokalemia, without the cortisol-related features. Pheochromocytoma involves excess catecholamines from the adrenal medulla, producing episodic hypertension and palpitations, not the cortisol-driven picture.