Adrenal Glands TCM

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In TCM, the adrenal glands are considered part of the Kidney system. The

word Kidney is capitalized in this sentence because I'm talking about the

TCM concept of the Kidneys instead of the Western definition of the kidneys.

There are two adrenal glands, and each sits on top of the kidneys.

There are two parts to the adrenal - the medulla and the cortex. The medulla

is the inside of the adrenal glands; the cortex is the outer part of the

glands.

The adrenal medulla has a very close relation with the sympathetic division

of the autonomic nervous system. In fact, some of the adrenal medulla cells

are modified postganglionic cells, and preganglionic cells go directly to

them in the medulla instead of the usual situation where preganglionic cells

go to a middleman nerve cell in a ganglia.

The hormones (epinephrine and norepinephrine) released by the adrenal

medulla are very similar to the effects of the sympathetic nervous system -

except they last about 10 times as long as when the effects are coming from

the sympathetic nervous system.

According to my old anatomy and physiology book, a deficiency of adrenal

medulla hormones produce " no significant effects " . (Hole, Human Anatomy and

Physiology, 2nd. ed., p. 392) However, an excess of these hormones - like

occurs when there's a tumor - can produce a lot of serious problems like

high blood pressure, increased heart rate, elevated blood sugar, etc. (p.

392) The person can show all the symptoms of " prolonged sympathetic

responses. " (Note that an excess of adrenal medulla hormones can be result

in high blood sugar, elevated blood sugar frequently is linked to Yin

Deficiency, and Tierra makes the poiint that Yin Deficiency can result in

inappropriate sympathetic response. Also note that one symptom of Yin

Deficiency is agitation or nervous energy, and people with pheochromocytoma

often will present complaining of feeling " wired " and like they need to work

or run off energy. Note: Not all cases of Yin Deficiency manifest as

pheochromocytoma.)

The chief thing which can go wrong with the adrenal medulla is a condition

called pheochromocytoma. This is a disease in which a tumor forms in

pheochrome tissue, usually in the adreanl medulla though they can turn up in

other areas of the body. There is a familial tendency to the disorder in

some sufferes. PLEASE NOTE: People having a reaction to antihistamines can

present with all the symptoms of pheochromocytoma so please consider that

possibility and ask if the person is on antihistamines. Sometimes a person

with pheochromocytoma may be on antihistamines so the pheochromocytoma still

has to be ruled out. In other cases, a person may not have pheochromocytoma

and the symptoms can be coming strictly from an adverse reaction to the

antihistamines.

The impulses for the adrenal medulla to release its hormones comes from the

part of the brain known as the hypothalamus. Most text books talk about how

stress - especially on-going stress - can cause the body to be

inappropriately tilted toward the sympathetic response and the adrenal

medulla to be just a little too active. However, there are physical things

which can affect the hypothalamus. One thing which is being looked at in

connection with problems involving the hypothalamus are circulation problems

caused by there being too many misshapened, rigid red blood cells

(nondiscocytes) which have trouble making it through smaller capillaries.

The hypothalamus is particularly capillary rich.

Epinephrine and norepinephrine are catecholamines. There are

alpha-adrenergic and beta-adrenergic blocking agents which will reverse the

effects of epinepherine and norepinephrine. There are metabolic blockers

which will block catecholamine synthesis.

There are three layers of the adrenal cortex, and each layer produces a

different type of adrenal cortex hormone. All the adrenal cortex hormones

are steroids (corticosteroids).

The different groups are 10. the mineralocorticoids which maintain

electrolyte balance, 2). the glucocorticoids which influence metabolism of

carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, and 3). the sex hormones.

There are some major serious problems which can result if the adreanal

cortex is either too active or too deficient. 's disease is the name

of the condition in which there are too few adrenal cortex hormones

(hypofunctioning). This one can kill in a few days because of the resulting

severe electrolyte imbalances.

Hypersecretion of adrenal cortex hormones is called Cushing's disease. This

one is major serious too.

There are other disorders of the adrenal cortex, but these are the main two.

Tierra in his article goes into some detail about some of the adrenal

hormones and herbs which may be helpful. There are, I believe, around 30

different adrenal cortex hormones.