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Adrenal Fatigue Concepts

Meaning

The term Adrenal Fatigue Concepts refers to a non-medical, popular hypothesis suggesting that chronic stress can lead to a state of adrenal gland exhaustion, resulting in low cortisol output and a constellation of non-specific symptoms like persistent tiredness, body aches, and nervousness. Clinically, this state is not recognized as a distinct diagnosis in conventional endocrinology, which instead focuses on conditions like Addison’s disease or Cushing’s syndrome involving clear adrenal insufficiency or excess. The concept is widely discussed in functional and integrative medicine circles to explain a stress-related decline in well-being. This model attempts to bridge the gap between subjective stress experience and measurable physiological changes in the HPA axis.