Graves disease is a form of thyroiditis, an autoimmune disorder that stimulates the thyroid gland, being the
most common cause of hyperthyroidism (overactivity of the thyroid). Also known
in the English-speaking world simply as Graves' disease,
it occurs most
frequently in women (8:1 compared to men) of middle age.
Symptoms of
Graves disease include
fatigue, weight loss and rapid heart beat. Because similar antibodies to those
stimulating the thyroid also affect the eye, eye symptoms are also commonly
reported. Treatment for Graves disease is with medication that reduces the production of thyroid
hormone (thyroxin), or with radioactive iodine if refractory.
Signs and Symptoms of Graves Disease
Graves-Basedow disease (Graves Disease) is a disorder characterized by a
triad of hyperthyroidism, goitre, and exophthalmos (bulging eyeballs).
Due to the many physiological actions of thyroid hormone, many
symptoms and signs are linked to Graves' disease:
- Cardiac: cardiac arrhythmias (especially atrial
fibrillation), tachycardia (increased heart rate), collapsing pulse and
widened pulse pressure (difference between systolic and diastolic BP) and
congestive cardiac failure with peripheral edema, ascites, anasarca.
- Endocrine: weight loss in
the presence of increased appetite, intolerance to heat, elevated basal
metabolic rate
- Dermatological: profuse sweating, thyroid acropachy
(clubbing) of the fingernails, onycholysis (fingernail destruction), palmar
erythema, pretibial myxedema (3 to 5% of Graves' disease patients, not
to be confused with the myxedema of hypothyroidism)
- Neurological: tremor (especially noticable on extending the
arms), apprehension, weakness, headache, proximal myopathy (difficulty rising
from a chair or squatting position) and hyperactive deep tendon reflexes
- Gastrointestinal: diarrhoea (common), vomiting (rare)
- Ophthalmological: thyroid eye disease (TED) characteristic
of Graves disease include lid retraction (Dalrymple sign) above the
superior corneoscleral limbus, lid lag (von Graefe's sign), proptosis or
forward displacement of the globes, periorbital swelling and chemosis.
Extremely manifested disease that can sometimes be
life-threatening is called the thyroid storm.
It is recommended that Transfer
Factor Advanced Formula to be used in autoimmune conditions.
Transfer Factor Plus is generally preferred for
conditions caused by infection. Transfer Factors
suppress over acting immune system
to ease autoimmune conditions.
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Diagnosis of Graves Disease
On the basis of the signs and symptoms of Graves disease, thyroid hormone (T4) and
thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) are determined in the medical laboratory. T4
is markedly elevated, while TSH is suppressed due to negative feedback. An
elevated protein-bound iodine level may be detected. A large goiter is sometimes
seen on X-rays.
Thyroid-stimulating antibodies may be detected serologically.
By: The Medical Symptoms Database
Immune
System & Diseases
Transfer Factor & Immune Functions
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