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A patient has moon face, central weight gain, purple stretch marks, high sugar. This is Cushing syndrome — chronic cortisol excess (steroid drugs commonest cause, or pituitary/adrenal tumor). Cortisol redistributes fat to face/trunk, thins skin (striae), raises sugar and BP, weakens bone. The mirror image, Addison's disease (cortisol deficiency), shows fatigue, weight loss, skin darkening, low BP — and can kill in crisis without stress-dose steroids. The pair teaches hormone balance: too much and too little are equally dangerous.