The eyes bulge and are dry, the throat feels thickened, and the pulse races. The shins are swollen and the finger joints ache. The doctor will probably diagnose “Graves’ disease.” However, this disease can also present with more discrete symptoms. The disease has many names, based on its first descriptors – such as Graves, the Merseburg physician, Graves, the Irish internist, or Flajani, the Italian surgeon. Common names in the Anglo-Saxon world are “Graves’ disease” and in the rest of Europe “Graves’ disease.”
What is Graves’ disease?
Graves’ disease is one of the autoimmune diseases in which substances are produced by the immune system that are directed not only against foreign invaders but also against the body’s own substances.
This is a malfunction that can have fatal consequences: The affected structures can be altered or destroyed by these “autoantibodies” so that they can no longer perform their function properly.
Misdirected immune defense
In Graves’ disease, these misdirected defense units are primarily directed against certain surface cells on the thyroid gland. Hormones from the brain normally dock onto these to tell the thyroid to secrete more hormones.
The “wrong” antibodies have the same effect and cause the thyroid to produce hormones that are completely disconnected from the actual need. This leads to the symptoms of hyperthyroidism. The condition is therefore also known as immune hyperthyroidism.
The autoantibodies can also be directed against other body tissues and cause local reactions with swelling there. The muscles, connective and fatty tissues of the eyes and shins are particularly affected.
Causes of Graves’ disease
The causes in detail are not clear to date; however, it is assumed that several triggers interact. It is suspected that, in addition to hereditary factors and disorders in the immune system, the following aspects play an important role:
- Infections with viruses or bacteria
- Environmental factors such as iodine exposure or smoking
- Psychological factors such as stress and hormonal changes (for example, during puberty, pregnancy or menopause).
Graves’ disease occurs more often together with other autoimmune diseases, for example, diabetes mellitus type 1, chronic polyarthritis or a certain form of gastritis (gastritis type A).
Women are 8 to 10 times more likely to develop the disease than men. It is estimated to affect about 1 to 6 percent of the population in Western industrialized countries. The disease usually breaks out between the ages of 30 and 50, although even children can become ill. In some families, the disease occurs in clusters, suggesting a hereditary component.
