Addison's disease (hypoadrenocorticism) occurs when the adrenal glands stop secreting the natural steroid hormones (glucocorticoid) and hormones (mineralicorticoids) necessary for the regulation of sodium and potassium levels in the blood.
This disease is not fully understood and it is believed that environmental factors or other genetic influences can also contribute to whether a dog becomes affected. Having other factors that influence whether or not a dog is affected by this condition means that having two copies of the recessive mutant gene does not necessarily always result in clinical disease and similarly an absence of the gene is not a guarantee that the condition will not occur.
Since other factors can influence whether a dog becomes affected by this condition, unlike most other DNA tests, this test evaluates a dog’s risk of developing the disease, rather than giving a definitive result.
Current research suggests that 75% of dogs that have two copies of the JADD gene variant will develop JADD.