Friday, January 15, 2010

Addison's Disease on The Doctors, Monday January 18th

The National Adrenal Diseases Foundation ran a campaign to get Addison's Disease as a topic of the CBS TV show, The Doctors. (I just learned today that it is on ABC, channel 7 @ 11 AM in the Seattle area.) It is supposed to air this coming Monday, January 18th, during the last 5 minutes. Tune in to learn about Addison's, and how to recognize it.

It bears repeating--if Annie had been diagnosed in time, she would not have suffered a brain injury. The signs and symptoms of Addison's include increasing lethargy, dehydration, depression, muscle aches, craving of salty food, nausea, vomiting, and--most notably in Annie's case--a darkening of the skin.

If recognized and diagnosed, Addison's is easily treatable with daily doses of hydrocortisone. What's not easily treatable is the fallout from a brain injury.

Jean



6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Jean
You are absolutely correct that if diagnosed in time, she wouldn't have suffered the brain injury. So many people go undiagnosed for too long, it's very sad.
God Bless you guys.
Barbara Saunders

Jean said...

Thanks, Barbara--I think that with awareness, though, we can make Addison's and its symptoms a commonly known disease like ALS or Alzheimers--both listed on the National Organization of Rare Disorders index. The thing that sets Addison's apart, though, is that it is so treatable IF it is diagnosed, and so devastating, and often fatal, if it is not.

uncle jeff said...

:(....

Barbara said...

Jean

Did you see the show? I did i thought it was good, touched on all the key points. If you didn't see it let me know i'll send you the link on line.

Jean said...

Thanks, Barbara--I saw it, and it's great--a happy ending to the story of the woman with Addison's. And here is the link: http://thedoctorstv.com/main/procedure_list/1055.

Watch & learn!

Hua said...

I was reading through your posts and I'm sorry about what has happened, but I think it's wonderful that Annie has such an amazing family that cares about her, and wants to raise awareness for those who might be going through the same thing.

Best,
Hua
Director of Blogger Networks
Wellsphere.com