Causes of adrenal hyperfunction include the following
Cushing’s syndrome
Conn’s syndrome
Adrenogenital syndrome and congenital adrenal hyperplasia
Adrenocortical neoplasma
caused by excessive cortisone secretion often brought on by steroid use
Females>Males
Clinical features include
Fat
buffalo hump - due to osteoporosis
how is it that long term steroid use causes cushings syndrome
steroids act as a replacement for cortisol in the body and so therefore the negative feedback cycle occurs to the HPA-axis and no cortisol is endogenously produced because it is being supplied exogenously by the steroids, this causes atrophy of the adrenal glands because they are not being used. if steroids are abruptly stopped then the body freaks out as it has not been compensating and has lost adrenal function which has atrophied, therefore it must make up for it by having a massive hypertrophy/proliferation surge of the adrenal cortex allowing it to produce enough cortisol this means regulation goes out the window and too much ortisol is produced then causing cushings syndrome