What does Graves disease do to a person?

If left untreated, Graves' disease can lead to heart rhythm disorders, changes in the structure and function of the heart muscles, and the inability of the heart to pump enough blood to the body (heart failure).

What happens to your body when you have Graves disease?

With Graves' disease, your immune system attacks your thyroid gland, causing it to make more thyroid hormones than your body needs. As a result, many of your body's functions speed up. The thyroid is a small gland in your neck that makes thyroid hormones.

Does Graves disease get worse over time?

Some causes may go away without treatment. Hyperthyroidism caused by Graves disease usually gets worse over time. It has many complications, some of which are severe and affect quality of life.

What triggers Graves disease?

Graves' disease is an autoimmune condition where your immune system mistakenly attacks your thyroid which causes it to become overactive. The cause of Graves' disease is unknown, but it mostly affects young or middle-aged women and often runs in families. Smoking can also increase your risk of getting it.

Does Graves disease affect your life?

Graves' disease is rarely life-threatening. However, without treatment, it can lead to heart problems and weak and brittle bones. Graves' disease is known as an autoimmune disorder. That's because with the disease, your immune system attacks your thyroid — a small, butterfly-shaped gland at the base of your neck.

Danielle’s Story Living with Graves' and Thyroid Eye Disease

Does Graves disease affect the brain?

If not treated properly, Graves' disease can affect your brain, your heart, and your muscles. In more severe forms, it can cause painful muscle aches, sociopathic behavior, and even heart damage.

What should you not do if you have Graves disease?

In addition to managing stress, it is essential for people with Graves' disease to refrain from smoking. It not only increases the risk of Graves' disease but can also aggravate symptoms and increase the risk of an eye condition known as Graves' ophthalmopathy (also known as thyroid eye disease).

Can Graves disease go away?

Graves' disease is a lifelong (chronic) condition. However, treatments can keep your thyroid hormone levels in check. Medical care may even make the disease temporarily go away (remission).

How long does Graves disease last?

Although prognosis is excellent after 4 years without relapse [³⁰], late recurrences do occur and only one in three patients experiences permanent remission [²¹]. Remission rate after 10 years is in the order of 30% to 40%, and hypothyroidism has developed in 10% to 15% 15 years after ATD [⁵⁹].

Is Graves disease a mental illness?

Graves' disease is an autoimmune disorder that is the most common cause of hyperthyroidism. Other symptoms associated with the disease are goitre, ophthalmopathy, and psychiatric manifestations such as mood and anxiety disorders and, sometimes, cognitive dysfunction.

What is end stage Graves disease?

Heart disorders: If left untreated, Graves' disease can lead to heart rhythm disorders, changes in the structure and function of the heart muscles, and inability of the heart to pump enough blood to the body (congestive heart failure).

Is Graves disease considered a disability?

Patients with Graves' disease may be unable to work because of their disease and its related complications. If so, they are likely asking themselves, “is Graves' disease considered a disability?” The answer is yes. When severe enough, Graves' disease is considered a disability.

What is the best treatment for Graves disease?

These prescription medications include propylthiouracil and methimazole (Tapazole). Because the risk of liver disease is more common with propylthiouracil, methimazole is considered the first choice when doctors prescribe medication.

Can Graves disease be painful?

A painful and tender thyroid gland is an uncommon feature of Graves' disease [1-3]. We present a case of Graves' disease where the patient primarily presented with complaints of pain and tenderness in the region of the thyroid gland without evidence of sub-acute thyroiditis.

Does Graves disease affect memory?

Cognitive Symptoms in Hyperthyroidism

Hyperthyroidism occurs when your thyroid gland produces more thyroid hormone than your body needs. Some people with hyperthyroidism, such as Graves' disease, commonly experience poor concentration, slower reaction times, decreased spatial organization, and memory lapses.

Can Graves disease affect other organs?

Graves' disease is an autoimmune disease which primarily affects the thyroid gland. It may also affect multiple other organs including eyes and skin. It is the most common cause of hyperthyroidism.

Is Graves disease cancerous?

Patients with Graves' disease (GD) are at a 2.5 times higher risk of developing thyroid cancer than the general population.

Does Graves disease go away when thyroid is removed?

ANSWER: Thyroid removal is one of several treatment options that can effectively decrease symptoms of Graves' disease. Others include anti-thyroid medications and radioiodine. Each person is different, and no one treatment is best for everyone. A thyroidectomy often relieves symptoms of Graves' disease.

Can stress cause Graves disease?

As mentioned earlier, hyperthyroidism isn't caused by stress, but that doesn't mean the two aren't related. For those that already have symptoms of hyperthyroidism, physical or mental stress can make them even worse.

Is Graves disease Genetic?

The inheritance pattern of Graves disease is unclear because many genetic and environmental factors appear to be involved. However, the condition can cluster in families, and having a close relative with Graves disease or another autoimmune disorder likely increases a person's risk of developing the condition.

Does Graves disease affect the eyes?

Graves' eye disease happens when swelling around the eyes makes them bulge out. It's caused by Graves' disease, and it's also called GED, Graves' ophthalmopathy, or thyroid eye disease (TED). Graves' eye disease is often mild and may go away on its own.

What foods heal your thyroid?

Can Graves disease lead to dementia?

Graves' disease and toxic nodular goiter increase the odds that these patients will develop dementia, including Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia, a relationship perhaps driven by prolonged low TSH.

Can Graves disease damage the heart?

We have demonstrated that significant cardiac complications of Graves' disease (pericardial effusion, dilated cardiomyopathy and rate related cardiomyopathy and AF causing heart failure) may occur in previously fit young patients without cardiac disease.

What foods are good for Graves disease?