In the U.S., about 70% of primary adrenal insufficiency in adults is due to an autoimmune process. About 30% of the time, the adrenal damage is due to other causes, such as: tuberculosis, a common cause in areas of the world where tuberculosis is more prevalent; bacterial, viral and fungal infections; adrenal hemorrhage; and the spread of cancer into the adrenal glands.
Addison’s disease affects about 1 in 100,000 people. Most cases are caused by the gradual destruction of the adrenal cortex, the outer layer of the adrenal glands, by the body’s own immune system. About 70 percent of reported cases of addison’s disease are caused by autoimmune disorders, in which the immune system makes antibodies that attack the body’s own tissues or organs and slowly destroy them.
The failure of your adrenal glands to produce adrenocortical hormones is most commonly the result of the body attacking itself (autoimmune disease). For unknown reasons, your immune system views the adrenal cortex as foreign, something to attack and destroy.

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