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Graves’ disease is an autoimmune disease characterized by a metabolic imbalance resulting from overproduction of thyroid hormones (thyrotoxicosis). Graves’ disease can have an effect on many parts of the body such as the nervous system, eyes, skin, hair/nails, lungs, digestive system, muscles/bones and reproductive system.

The most common form of hyperthyroidism is Graves’ disease. In newborns, the most common cause of an overactive thyroid is called neonatal Graves disease, which can be life threatening. However, hyperthyroidism rarely occurs in children and adolescents. It is named after Robert Graves, the 19th century Irish physician who first discovered the condition. In Graves’ disease, the thyroid gland in the neck is diffusely enlarged and hyperactive, producing excessive thyroid hormones. Graves’ disease can have an effect on many parts of the body such as the nervous system, eyes, skin, hair/nails, lungs, digestive system, muscles/bones and reproductive system.

Graves disease can run in families. The rate of concordance for Graves disease is about 20% among monozygotic (identical) twins, and the rate is much lower among dizygotic (nonidentical) twins, indicating that genes make only a moderate contribution to the susceptibility to Graves disease. No single gene is known to cause the disease or to be necessary for its development. There are well-established associations with certain HLA types. Linkage analysis has identified gene loci on chromosomes 14q31, 20q11.2, and Xq21 that are associated with susceptibility to Graves disease.

Causes

Graves’ disease involves the immune system of the body. Normally, the immune system protects you from infection and abnormal body cells by recognizing and destroying cells using antibodies, which are produced by blood cells known as lymphocytes. In Graves’ disease, the lymphocytes in the body’s immune system produce antibodies that actually attack the body’s own tissue instead of protecting. Due to a result of this attack, the antibodies cause the thyroid gland to overproduce thyroid hormones.

Symptoms

Classic symptoms include goiter (an enlarged thyroid), nervousness, heat intolerance, weight loss despite increased appetite, sweating, diarrhea, tremor, and palpitations.

Abnormally protruding eyeballs are a classic sign but don’t occur in all cases.

Treatment

Currently there is no treatment available to halt production of the antibodies that cause hyperthyroidism. However, there are three courses of study of treatment available to assist Graves’ disease patients have more normal grades of thyroid internal secretion and to command their symptoms. Anti-thyroid drugs are utilized to diminish the production of thyroid internal secretion. This treatment will consequence in prolonged remittal of the disease in about 20 to 30 percentage of patients and usually those with milder disease at the beginning of treatment.

Anti-thyroid drugs which inhibit production or conversion of the active thyroid hormone.

Surgical removal of most of the thyroid gland is the other alternative for severe cases of Graves’ disease.

Fevers are treated with cooling measures and antipyretics.

Radioactive iodine. The radioactive iodine damages thyroid cells, shrinking and eventually destroying the thyroid gland in order to reduce hormone levels. Like surgery, this condition usually leads to hypothyroidism, so that thyroid hormone supplement medication is needed for the rest of the patient’s life.