Addison’s disease is a medical condition named after Dr. Thomas Addison (1793-1860), a brilliant researcher and diagnostician, who discovered and gave his name to Addison's disease.

Dr. Thomas Addison first identified adrenal failure around 1850, whilst at Guy's Hospital, London, where he worked and taught for 37 years. Dr Addison is remembered as one of the founders of clinical endocrinology, who's work saved the lives of individuals with Addison's disease and adrenal insufficiency for generations to come.

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Thomas Addison was born in April 1793, at Long Benton, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. His parents Sarah and Joseph Addison, a grocer and flour dealer in Long Benton, gave him the best elementary education within their reach and aspired to start him in life on a much higher social level than their own.

Thomas Addison proceeded to the Royal Free Grammar School, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and learned Latin so well that he made notes in that language. In 1812, Thomas became a medical student at the University of Edinburgh and in 1815 moved to London. He progressed rapidly and was admitted as a Licentiate of the College of Physicians in December 1819, and a Fellow in July 1838.

About the year 1820 Dr. Addison entered as a pupil of Guy’s Hospital, London, where he stayed for his career as a physician and lecturer.

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Addison and the adrenals 

Dr. Thomas Addison first identified adrenal failure around 1850, whilst at Guy's Hospital, London, where he worked and taught for over 37 years.

Most of Dr. Addison’s patients in Victorian London were poor people and a lot of them got sick with a kind of chest infection called tuberculosis (TB). Tuberculosis was deadly because modern medicines, like antibiotics, had not been invented, so doctors could not do a lot to treat people in those days. Nowadays it is very rare to get TB destruction of the adrenal glands, they are usually damaged by a different process where the body makes antibodies against the adrenals.

Dr. Thomas Addison observed that some of his patients had other symptoms such as dark skin and a lot of vomiting. These patients went on to become very thin and so weak they could hardly get out of bed. This decline in health led to ultimately death. He described the symptoms as: 

By studying the bodies, Dr. Addison realised that this was because their adrenal glands had stopped working and had shrivelled up. At the time, it was not understood what the adrenal glands actually did, but Dr. Addison's pioneering work showed that they were essential for life.

As the first person to describe and publish detailed medical findings about the condition, the disease was later named Addison's disease in his honour.

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Dr. Thomas Addison's scientific discoveries

In 1855, Dr. Addison published the first scientific paper about this newly-discovered condition. The paper was called ‘Disease of the Supra-renal Capsules’. He gave the adrenal glands this name because they are found just above the kidneys, sitting on top of them like two little hats. 

Dr. Addison’s passion and determination to diagnose difficult diseases resulted in the classification of two conditions: Addison's disease and one of its associated conditions, Vitamin B12 deficiency (pernicious anaemia).

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Personal life and death

Dr. Addison was born in April 1794, but his exact birth date remains unconfirmed. He suffered from several bouts of severe depression during his lifetime and died by suicide in 1860 aged 65, just a few months after he retired. He was buried at Lanercost Abbey, in Cumberland. The inscription on the stone chest tombstone reads:

“In memory of Thomas Addison M.D. Son of Joseph and Sarah Addison. Died June 29th 1860 aged 66 years. For 36 years physician to Guy’s Hospital London”.

Pictured: Dr. Thomas Addison's gravestone at Lanercost Abbey, in Cumberland. 

Today he is known as one of our country’s great clinicans, his work improving the lives of everyone with Addison's and adrenal insufficiency for generations to come.

At the Addison's Disease Self Help Group we celebrate, remember and thank this dedicated doctor.