Graves' Disease
The disease was first noted in 1786 by Caleb Hillier Parry 1755- 1822, physician from General Hospital, Bath, England. His account was published posthumously in 1825.
However Graves' disease is named after the Irish physician who described several cases in London Medical Journal in 1835. Graves' disease is also known as Parry's disease. In Europe, the disease is known as Basedow's disease. It is the most common cause of thyrotoxicosis (the morbid condition due to over activity of the thyroid gland).
The disorder has three major manifestations:
Hyperthyroidism with diffuse goiter
Ophthalmopathy
and Dermopathy
The three manifestations need not appear together. Indeed one or two never appear, and moreover,
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TSH not only stimulates the thyroid gland to churn out more hormones. If in excess, can cause overwhelming cell growth and division to result in goiter.
Most T3 and T4 released into the bloodstream are bound to proteins. Only the "free" component is biologically active and it is this component which decides the manifestations of thyrotoxicosis. The hormones exert their effects mainly by binding to nuclear receptors in cells to affect expression of genes.
In the presence of excess T3 and T4, an increase in number as well as affinity of beta-adrenergic receptors in the heart is noted. These receptors facilitate the action of "fight, flight and fright" hormones ( epinephrine, norepinephrine) which are positively chronotropic ( beat faster) and inotropic ( pump harder) to the heart. This may then lead to cardiac failure in older patients.
In fact, mild hyperthyroidism may produce severe disability in patients with underlying heart disease. Hence, all patients with unexplained cardiac failure or atrial arrhythmias should be examined for thyrotoxicosis.
Hyperthyroidism also increases the basal metabolic rate, heat production and oxygen consumption (calorigenic action) of many tissues. Body temperature increases slightly and the patient experiences intolerance to heat. Flushing and sweating are just compensatory
Graves’ disease was named after Robert J. Graves, MD, around the 1830’s. It is an autoimmune disease indicated by hyperthyroidism due to circulating autoantibodies, which is an antibody that attacks the person’s own body. The immune system attacks the thyroid gland, which causes it to produce too much thyroxine. Thyroxine is a hormone that helps control growth and also regulates metabolism in the body. While the thyroxine levels are high the patient’s metabolic rate increases, which can have an effect on their physical appearance as well as their frame of mind. Graves’ disease is the number one cause of hyperthyroidism in the U.S.
Week 3 – LOM Assignment The thyroid is responsible for taking iodine and converting it into thyroid hormones which are released into the blood stream and transported throughout the body where they control metabolism.1 The thyroid is a vital part of the human body as every cell in the body depends on it for metabolic regulation. Too much or too little thyroid hormone secretion can result in hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism. Hyperthyroidism is caused when the thyroid secretes too many thyroid hormones. Hyperthyroidism causes a rapid heart rate, elevated blood pressure and tremors. Other symptoms include increased nervousness, inability to concentrate, weakness, restlessness, difficulty sleeping, frequent bowel movements, weight loss and irregular
The thyroid is a butterfly-shaped gland. You would find it located in the lower neck, right below the Adam’s apple. The location is the same in both men and women. What the thyroid does is create and store thyroid hormone. It then releases the hormone in appropriate amounts to keep the body’s metabolism functioning at a normal level. If there is too much thyroid hormone, this is known as hyperthyroidism. In hyperthyroidism, the body’s metabolism increases. This condition can cause high blood pressure, high heart rate, nervousness, palpitations, and severe weight loss. Too little thyroid hormone, on the other hand, can cause tiredness, depression, memory loss, dry skin, brittle hair, and weight gain—among many other symptoms.
Normally, the thyroid gets its production orders through another chemical called thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), released by the pituitary gland in the brain. But in Graves' disease, a malfunction in the body's immune system releases abnormal antibodies that mimic TSH. Spurred by these false signals to produce, the thyroid's hormone factories work overtime and exceed their normal quota.
Hyperthyroidism (too much hormone) may result Grave's disease. Symptoms include anxiety, rapid heart rate, diarrhea and weight loss, nervousness, anxiety, and irritability.
Thyroid hormones are thermogenic which means that they tend to produce heat through metabolic stimulation. They interact with other hormones to modulate protein, carbohydrate and fat metabolism as well5. As mentioned earlier, one main symptom of Graves’ disease is heat intolerance which can cause excess sweating of the patient. Since thyroid hormones produce heat, if a patient has over stimulation of the hormone, that is what causes the excess heat production. In Graves’ disease, the body produces antibodies called thyroid-stimulating immunoglobulins (TSI). They take the place of TSH attaching to the TSH receptors and activating them on the thyroid gland. Therefore, the negative feedback loop of over secretion of the thyroid gland is blocked and cannot be
This process originates in the hypothalamus when thyrotropin, otherwise known as TRH, is secreted and passes through the hypothalamic vein (Kapustin, 2010). Once the thyrotropin reaches the TRH receptors, they bind and make genes synthesize a thyroid stimulating hormone, otherwise known as TSH (Kapustin, 2010). When the pituitary makes mature TSH, thyroxin and triiodothyronine hormones are produced and secreted and implements a complicated negative feedback process that low levels of thyroxine and triiodothyronine cause TSH levels to rise and high levels of thyroxine and triiodothyronine cause levels of TSH to decrease (Huether & McCance, 2012). Not enough credit is given to this little thyroid gland on the front of the neck. The thyroid helps regulates powerful hormones that are required for growth and development as well as maintaining homeostasis. If we don’t have enough of the thyroid hormone, myxedema can occur. Myxedema can cause multiple organ complications that lead to serious illnesses. For example, with myxedema affecting the heart, complications such as pericardial effusion and bradycardia can occur and with myxedema affecting the reproductive organs, infertility can occur (Kapustin,
Thyroid hormone production is regulated by a hormone called thyroid stimulating hormone and it is made in the brain by the pituitary gland. Since it occurs in the thyroid gland, thyroid hormones affect metabolism, brain development, body temperature, skin dryness, and it speeds up many of the body’s functions. The
Graves’ disease was first identified in 1835 that it was interconnected with goiter, palpitation and bulging of the eyes by Robert Graves, although it was first written and published ten years ago by Caleb Perry ("Brent"). Graves’ disease is an autoimmune disorder, it induces the human body to have a hyperactive thyroid gland (hyperthyroidism) causing immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies that attach to TSH receptors that starts the production and release of thyroid hormones; An autoimmune disorder is a disorder that happens when a healthy tissue gets attack by our immune system mistakenly. According to the article I read from New England Journal of Medicine “Graves' disease affects approximately 0.5% of the population and is the underlying cause of 50 to 80% of cases of hyperthyroidism” (Weetman).
Exophthalmic goiter, more popularly known as Graves’ disease, is an autoimmune disease where too much activity of the thyroid gland leads to the overproduction of thyroid hormones such as T3 and T4. More specifically, an autoimmune disorder is described as “the body's immune system mistakenly identifying healthy cells as foreign invaders and attacking them” (Lam, 2015). This disease affects the thyroid gland, an organ located at the base of the neck just below the Adam's apple. The thyroid gland is a crucial component of the endocrine system, which is responsible for the regulation of a person's metabolism by releasing hormones into the bloodstream. Since the disease affects the thyroid gland, hyperthyroidism is one of the most common results
In the 19th Century (1801 – 1900) Robert Graves discovered Graves’ disease and that’s why its named Graves disease. Graves' disease is an auto immune system disease that affects the thyroid. It is due to an abnormal immune system response that causes hyperthyroidism which is when the thyroid gland to produce too much thyroid hormone. The most common cause of hyperthyroidism is Grave’s disease.
Even though Hyperthyroidism in, Graves’s’ disease is an autoimmune disorder because of the increase demand on the body if left untreated hyperthyroidism can lead to serious complications , such as an increase in cardiac output, higher oxygen consumption and increased metabolic rate along with coagulation issues (Porth & Gaspard, 2015). The CNS reacts to too much thyroid hormone too much hormone induces anxiety and nervousness.
There is total T4 and free T4. Total T4 is the recording of the blood levels in you and this is including your blood proteins. Free T4 is the recording of only the T4 that is not attached to the proteins. Though treatable this disease may cause death. Not getting treatment for this disease may lead to the following complications: dehydration, hypertension, bone loss, osteoporosis, and irregular heart rhythm. The doctor that you see regularly can treat and look over on how you’re doing, however if it the disease is bad enough you may be required to go seek help from an endocrinologist( an Endocrinologist specializes in the Endocrine system which holds the thyroid glands and other hormone-secreting glands).
Toxic nodular goiters are nodules that secrete thyroid hormones independent of TSH stimulation. They are usually benign follicular adenomas. Nodules larger than about 3 cm can cause a thyrotoxic crisis, also known as thyroid storm. This is a life threatening emergency; death is rare if treatment is initiated early and vigorously.
The thyroid gland is definitely susceptible to several disorders and problems that can trigger hyperthyroidism which is overproduction of thyroid testosterone and thyroid problems which is underproduction of thyroid growth hormones. In this particular healthcare guidebook on the thyroid gland, you find out about the most popular diseases that may impact the hypothyroid.