adrenal gland
Meaning of adrenal gland: The adrenal glands are small hormone producing organs sitting atop each kidney that regulate stress response, blood pressure, and metabolism.
Definition of adrenal gland
The adrenal glands are two small, triangular shaped glands, one positioned on top of each kidney, that produce a range of hormones essential to regulating the body's stress response, blood pressure, and metabolism. Each gland has an outer layer, the adrenal cortex, and an inner core, the adrenal medulla, which produce different types of hormones.
The adrenal cortex produces steroid hormones, including cortisol, which helps regulate metabolism and the body's response to stress, and aldosterone, which helps regulate blood pressure by controlling salt and water balance. The adrenal medulla produces catecholamines, including epinephrine and norepinephrine, which prepare the body for rapid physical response during stress, sometimes called the fight or flight response.
Because the adrenal glands influence so many body systems at once, a disorder affecting either the cortex or the medulla, whether producing too much or too little of a given hormone, can produce wide ranging effects on blood pressure, energy, and the body's ability to respond to physical stress.
Also known as
Used in a sentence
Imaging identified a mass in the adrenal gland during evaluation of the patient's elevated blood pressure.
Good to know
The adrenal cortex and adrenal medulla are functionally distinct despite forming a single gland, so a disorder can affect hormone production from one layer without necessarily involving the other.
Word origin
Where “adrenal gland” comes from
Formed from Latin ad-, meaning near or toward, and renal, from ren, meaning kidney, describing the gland's position next to the kidney.