Graves Disease - Research Paper Example

The prevalence of Graves’s disease is higher in women than in men and usually begins after the age of 20. While the disease is not life threatening, there are treatments to relieve symptoms (Barker, 2011). Before rendering of a medical diagnosis, Graves'-related hyperthyroidism causes devastating physical and emotional symptoms making the patients to feel confused, fearful and anxious. If the patient understood the causes of Graves’ disease, the symptoms to expect and the options available for successful treatment can make the disorder appear less threatening (Sefcik, 2011).

This paper will discuss in detail the whole aspect of this disease. It will analyze the causes and risk factors, pathogenesis of the disease, signs and symptoms, diagnosis as well as treatment options. Causes and Risk Factors of Graves Disease The real cause of the Graver’s disease is unknown. However, some researchers claim that it occurs when the immune system sets up an attack against the thyroid gland by mistake. In this case, there is production of thyroid-stimulating immunoglobulin by the immune system triggering the thyroid to manufacture more hormones than actually needed by the body.

The main purpose of these hormones is to regulate various bodily functions with thyroxine main purpose being to control metabolic rate. The symptoms of Grave’s disease manifest themselves because of the high levels of these hormones in the system (Lindell, 2011). The main risk factor for Grave’s disease is gender. The disease mostly affects the females mainly because of the modulation of the autoimmune response by estrogen. In some patients, the onset of Graves’ disease normally starts with difficult events such as bereavement, divorce, and job loss hence supporting the likelihood of the role for stress as an initiating factor of the disease.

Although there is a weak relationship between smoking and Graves’ hyperthyroidism and the relationship is strong with the development of Ophthalmopathy (Weetman, 2006). The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists claims that the prevalence of Graves' disease is common among individuals younger than 40 years old. In addition, Grave’s disease is prone to people suffering from other immune disorders. Additionally, there seems to be an association between some types of genes and with Graves’, since people are more susceptible if other family members suffer from the illness (Lindell, 2011).

Among the monozygotic twins, the rate of concordance for Graves’ disease is about 20 percent but the rate is much lower among dizygotic twins, signifying that genes make only a moderate contribution to susceptibility (Weetman, 2006). Pathogenesis of Graves’s disease There are shared features between Graves’ disease and autoimmune hypothyroidism, including thyroid peroxidase, high serum concentrations of antibodies against thymoglobulin, and maybe the sodium–iodide co transporter in thyroid tissue.

Although the serum concentrations of the antibodies differ among patients, and the antibodies themselves may change the stimulatory effects of thyroid-stimulating antibodies. In some patients, the concurrent of production of antibodies that block the thyrotrophic receptor lowers the stimulatory action of thyroid-stimulating antibodies (Weetman, 2006). Symptoms and Diagnosis of Graves’s Disease The symptoms of Gra