How Does Adrenal Gland Affect Thoughts And Decision Making?

Posted on Sun, 23 Mar 2014

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Sun, 23 Mar 2014 Answered on

Tue, 29 Apr 2014 Last reviewed on

Question : How does having one adrenal gland affect your mind like thoughts and intellectual level and decision making?

Answered by Dr. Praveen (3 hours later)

Brief Answer: Adrenals fight stress and donot regulate thought Detailed Answer: Hi.Thanks for writing on HCM. Adrenal glands are mainly responsible for production of hormones which regulate blood pressure, heart rate and sexual function.They play important role in fighting stress. According to me thinking, intelligence, decision making etc are complex functions which are carried by the cortex, hypothalmus in the brain and are not regulated by the hormones produced by adrenal gland. If one adrenal is surgically removed, the other adrenal can hypertrophy to twice its normal size, giving same amount of adrenal tissue he previously had.After a period of time of continued stress they begin to adapt and to re-build themselves. Thus the adrenals have a great capacity for increasing their size and function and you may not panic. Hope this answers your query.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Yogesh D

Follow up: Dr. Praveen (3 hours later)

What do you mean by sexual function? Does a person normally use part of one adrenal gland? Where does the adrenal gland tumor come from? Could it have been a result of me grieving from the death of my mom? How does having one adrenal gland affect kidneys?

Answered by Dr. Praveen (35 minutes later)

Brief Answer: Pheochromocytoma is most common tumor Detailed Answer: Hi.Thanks for writing back. Adrenal gland(cortex) is responsible for production sex steroids meaning in females it is estrogen/progesterone which are required for responsible for secondary sexual characters, maintenance of libido etc. Both adrenal glands are required for normal functioning(medulla and cortex) on both the side. Most commonly(80-90%) adrenal gland tumor comes from medulla and is called Pheochromocytoma and is not related to your grief.Actually the cause is unknown.In this condition adrenal makes lot of hormones which increase your heart rate, blood pressure etc and require surgery and medication. One adrenal gland does not affect kidney.It might take some time to produce sufficient hormones to maintain your pressures as I have discussed. Hope this answers your query satisfactorily.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj

Follow up: Dr. Praveen (39 minutes later)

What about the hormones produced by the ovary are they apart of sexual function?

Answered by Dr. Praveen (12 minutes later)

Brief Answer: Ovary produce LH, FSH & estrogen Detailed Answer: Ovary also produces these hormone predominantly estrogen, leutinizing hormone and follicle stimulating hormone.In fact their production is regulated by hypothalamus, pituitary, adrenal and ovaries which work together in unison. Hope this answers your query.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vaishalee Punj

Follow up: Dr. Praveen (46 minutes later)

How does one adrenal gland affect sex? Like the stomach and uterus for women? Can men feel the difference?

Answered by Dr. Praveen (1 hour later)

Brief Answer: Absence of one adrenal doesn't affect sex Detailed Answer: Hi. One adrenal doesn't affect sexual function may it be male or female.Compensatory mechanisms operate to upregulate the secretion of the required hormones.In the absence of which may manifest as loss of libido, altered menstrual cycles in women and infertility.The adequacy of these hormonal secretion/metabolites can be checked by urinary tests. Hope this answers your query.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vaishalee Punj

Follow up: Dr. Praveen (20 hours later)

Does adrenal gland control how fast you react to things or how fast you receive a thought? Also do the adrenal control the heart rate like make it beat?

Answered by Dr. Praveen (4 hours later)

Brief Answer: Yes they do Detailed Answer: These control both.They are responsible for fight or flight.Adrenal rush increases your heart beat too.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj

Follow up: Dr. Praveen (1 hour later)

But my question is do the adrenal gland control how fast your brain receives a thought? Also do the adrenal gland completely control heart beat everyday even when not having adrenal rush?

Answered by Dr. Praveen (15 minutes later)

Brief Answer: Is essential to maintain normal heart rate Detailed Answer: Impulse transmission is actually mediated by the hormones (transmitters) present at neuronal endings.Adrenal doesn't have any role to play. But yes it is very essential to maintain normal heart rate.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj

Follow up: Dr. Praveen (6 hours later)

I don't understand, so when I receive a thought do the adrenal gland control how quickly I think or react?

Answered by Dr. Praveen (9 hours later)

Brief Answer: Helps you to react during emergency Detailed Answer: Brain activates the sympathetic nervous system(adrenal gland is a part of it) to react quickly to any crisis. Just to reinforce again the thought/how quickly you think is not controlled by the gland. Hope this answers the query.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Shanthi.E

Follow up: Dr. Praveen (39 hours later)

Is having one adrenal gland deformed?

Answered by Dr. Praveen (5 hours later)

Brief Answer: One functional gland will be sufficient Detailed Answer: I am sure that one adrenal gland would be able to secrete the hormones essential for carrying out our day to day activities.To reinforce once again this happens by a compensatory process- one of the key adaptive mechanisms in the body. All the best.Wish you a long healthy life.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad

Follow up: Dr. Praveen (16 hours later)

But is having one organ of two normal organs considered deformed?

Answered by Dr. Praveen (5 hours later)

Brief Answer: No.It's not Detailed Answer: This is not considered abnormal because at times the gland is removed in case of adrenal tumors etc which is inevitable.Have 2 or 1 doesn't make any difference as long as the body's requirements are catered.Thus one serves as a reserve in crisis.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad

Follow up: Dr. Praveen (18 hours later)

Ok thank you for all of your help. You have really helped out alot. I greatly appreciate all your advice answers and patience.

Answered by Dr. Praveen (5 hours later)

Brief Answer: Most welcome Detailed Answer: Wish you a long healthy life.All the best.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Raju A.T

Follow up: Dr. Praveen (43 hours later)

If skin shrinks fast could it cause stretch marks? If I apply a cream to my stomach that causes a decrease in sugar in my intestines is this dangerous? I am not sure but I may have upper respite ray problems, like mucous. I went to the doctor about bumps in the back of my throat along time ago and she told me it was fine and normal I had nothing to worry about I still have those same bumps is this normal? Also I took non prescription estrogen pills from a herb shop quite a bit of the and after taking then I decided to look up the ingredients in the site I then read that the pills not only causes your breast to grow but other sexual organs as well. Could these pills have made my clitorious grow as well?

Answered by Dr. Praveen (10 hours later)

Brief Answer: Shrinking does not cause stretch marks Detailed Answer: Hi.Thanks for writing me again. Stretch marks are caused due to the stretching of the skin when the skin fibres break and show through the underneath fat.They are red or purple in color and eventually become silvery white.Shrinking does not cause stretch marks. I would like to know the composition of the cream that you are applying on your stomach.I would not suggest my patient to apply any cream to decrease your sugar because there is no sufficient evidence and I believe these claims are irrational. I were to do a through ENT examination and check for deviated nasal septum, tonsils and post nasal drip and treat accordingly for the mucous/bumps that may feel in your throat. Non prescription hormonal pills shall increase initially increase the growth of vaginal tissues, clitoris and the labia.However over time this may cause their glands to not function, which in turn lowers libido, thins the vaginal tissues, and shrinks the clitoris and the labia.I were to check the dose of these hormones before using these pills as herbal drugs might contain a higher level of hormones than normally required. Hope this answers all your question.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj

Follow up: Dr. Praveen (13 hours later)

So the estrogen pills were from brothers pharmaceutical. Could these estrogen pills cause clitorious growth?

Answered by Dr. Praveen (38 hours later)

Brief Answer: Can you share the brand name Detailed Answer: Can you please share the brand name. Sorry for the delay.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj

Follow up: Dr. Praveen (30 hours later)

Yes it was like femglan estroglan things like that all made by brothers pharmaceutical company Also could a pill called libigirl sold in stores like inserection be XXXXXXX like could it cause clitorious growth

Answered by Dr. Praveen (35 hours later)

Brief Answer: Femglan/Oestroglan stimulate clitoris Detailed Answer: Hi.Thanks for writing back. Estroglan contains extracts from the sex organs from bovine sources with a variety of herbs.Since both Estoglan and Femglan contain ingredients which increase estrogen levels they will stimulate the growth of sex organs like vagina including the clitoris, uterus and cause breast engorgement. Libigirl causes sexual arousal and it stimulates clitoris. Libigirl contains undeclared prescription substances(ingredients of viagra) despite the product claims being 100% natural.Use is not approved by the Australian regulatory authorities. I would personally not recommend above 3 drugs to my patients since these are not tested in evidence based studies and claims remain unproven.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Shanthi.E

Follow up: Dr. Praveen (11 hours later)

Are results permanent With one adrenal gland regulating heartbeat would my heart beat abnormal like to fast since oe is doing twice the work or to slow? Or does all human heart beat differently? Could estrogen pills cause cancer? For my adrenalectomy I got four incisions and removed threw belly button my question is could some of the cells of the tumor possibly be left behind on another organ during the removal? Why couldn't the adrenal gland have to be removed?

Answered by Dr. Praveen (10 hours later)

Brief Answer: Estrogen pills at high dose pose cancer risk Detailed Answer: Results are not permanent.Once the pills (estrogen pills) are withdrawn or stopped the size of these organs restores to normal gradually.However long term usage and stopping might result in some shrinking as mentioned earlier. Estrogen from exogenous sources(at high doses) pose a risk of breast and uterine cancer.However they have to supplemented only if needed and at the right therapeutic doses. Heat rate/minute is self regulatory and does not solely depend on the adrenal hormone.It is not at all dependent on the number of glands whether one or two.You need not be worried about this one. Could you share some reports of the diagnosis or the discharge summary so that it might help me better understand and explain a bit so that your last to queries shall be precisely answered. Awaiting your reply.Thankyou.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Yogesh D

Follow up: Dr. Praveen (17 hours later)

Yes the adrenal gland was removed through my belly button it was diagnosed as a benign tumor my question is being that the organ passed other organs on the way out how does that work is there a possibility some of the cells could have been left behind on another organ? The adrenal gland was the only organ affected. And I want to know why the whole adrenal hD to be removed couldn't just have the tumor removed?

Answered by Dr. Praveen (10 hours later)

Brief Answer: Benign tumors are harmless Detailed Answer: Hi.Thanks for your regards. Benign tumors are absolutely harmless. The cells of such tumor donot spread to neighboring organs naturally/ during excision since tumor limits to the same organ. The gland would have been removed since the size and extent of involvement would have been more & more importantly adrenal gland itself is too tiny to be left behind post surgery.Donot panic. I am glad that the tumor was benign. Wish you good health.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj

Follow up: Dr. Praveen (47 hours later)

Is having one adrenal gland a dissability or cripple?

Answered by Dr. Praveen (7 minutes later)

Brief Answer: It's never Detailed Answer: It's never a cripple or disability. I suggest you to forget the fact that you have only one. Long live.All the best.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad