Symptoms And Treatment Of Autoimmune Diseases

Hashimoto’s Disease is a chronic Lymphocytic thyroiditis also known as autoimmune thyroiditis. It is due to chronic inflammation; the disease is a failure of the thyroid gland. Hashimoto’s disease is the most common inflammatory disorder of the thyroid and the leading cause of having hypothyroidism. The name of the disease came from a Japanese surgeon named Hashimoto Hakaru. Hakaru first described the chronic disease as Struma Lymphomatosa in a pathology report in the year 1912. Hashimoto’s Disease is a genetic trait and found to be more common in women then in men; and commonly found in women between the ages of thirty to fifty years of age. Hashimoto’s Disease can be found in children too; in the first-degree relatives that have the disease is found to have an increased incident.

Is a condition resulting from advanced hypothyroidism, or deficiency of thyroxine. It is the adult form of the disease whose congenital form is known as cretinism. Myxedema may be caused by lack of iodine in the diet; by atrophy, surgical removal, or a disorder of the thyroid gland; by destruction of the gland by radioactive iodine; or by deficient excretion of thyrotropin by the pituitary gland. It is marked

Experts aren’t sure the exact cause of Graves’ disease because it is an autoimmune disease. There are certain risk factors associated with Graves’ disease which include genetics, gender, age, pregnancy, mental stress, and smoking. People who have family history of this disease are more likely to develop it. Also females are more likely than males to acquire Graves’ disease and onset of the disease usually occurs after the age of 20. Anatomy affected by this disease is the thyroid gland which is part of the endocrine system. It is located at the back of the neck, below the Adam’s apple. This disease doesn’t destroy the thyroid gland, instead an antibody called thyrotropin receptor antibody makes the thyroid produce large amounts of hormone. The thyroid produces two hormones, thyroxine and triiodothyronine. These hormones affect many body systems and play a key role in regulating the body’s metabolic rate. Excessive secretion of these hormones is what causes the signs and symptoms that have already been described.

Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, also called Hashimoto’s disease is an autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune system attacks the thyroid gland. It was named for the Japanese surgeon who discovered it in 1912 The thyroid is a small butterfly shaped gland in the front of the neck. The thyroid makes hormones called T3 and T4. These hormones regulate metabolism. The thyroid is controlled by hormones of the pituitary gland, which is also called the “master gland.” It is a pea-sized gland located in the base of the brain which, among others, makes thyroid stimulating hormone, or TSH. TSH stimulates the thyroid to make thyroid hormone. With Hashimoto’s disease, the thyroid cells are damaged resulting in the inability to make enough thyroid

Hashimoto thyroiditis is a common disease caused by hypothyroidism. The immune system cells attack the thyroid gland, causing inflammation and eventually destruction of the gland. This reduces the thyroids ability to make hormones. These hormones are known as thyroxine (T4) and tri-iodothyronine (T3) (Better health channel 2015).

Attention Device Opener- Hashimoto’s disease is the most common cause of hypothyroidism in the United States.

Response: Hashimoto’s thyroiditis is characterized as a type of immune disorder and is the leading cause of hypothyroidism in America.1 The gradual failure of the thyroid is due to an autoimmune disorder that is causing glandular destruction.2 Thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3) are two hormones

Karen Holt describes in her 2010 article Graves’ Disease: Clinical Pathophysiology, Presentation and Treatment Options of certain genetic markers that cause the blood vessels surrounding the thyroid gland to dilate, most often occurring in the second to third decade of life. The dilation of these vessels causes an increase in blood flow and thyroid-stimulating antibodies excite thyrotropin receptors on the gland itself in the same manner that TSH usually works. These antibodies, known as TSAb, bypass the negative feedback loop that TSH works under causing the follicles to produce thyroid hormones in copious amounts without the ability to turn themselves “off”. This in turn causes the thyroid gland to hypertrophy and grow as much as 2 to 3 times its normal size (p. 13-14). In an effort to stop the overproduction of thyroid hormones the pituitary gland will stop making TSH and this becomes part of the diagnosing for Graves’ disease when assessing hyperthyroidism. Increased levels of free T3 and T4 along with an almost non-detectable level of TSH in a blood screen are very indicative of Graves’ disease (Holt, 2010, p. 14). There is no cure for Graves’ disease, but it is treatable with lifestyle adjustments as well as drug therapy it can be managed to a point (p 46).

Commonly, problems with the thyroid involve an abnormal production level of these hormones. It is called hyperthyroidism if there the thyroid hormones are overproduced, and this can cause things like Graves’ disease, Toxic adenomas, and subacute thyroiditis (7). Hypothyroidism is the underproduction of the hormones which can be caused by an inflamed thyroid, iodine deficiency, a non-functioning thyroid gland and more. Hypothyroidism is especially dangerous in infants and newborns as the lack of these thyroid hormones can lead to mental retardation and dwarfism (7). However, in humans hypothyroidism can be caused by things such as a pituitary disorder, a defective thyroid or a lack of the gland completely. (7)

Thyrotoxicosis is a clinical condition caused by excess circulating serum thyroxine (T4), triiodothyronine (T3), or both with suppression of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH). A negative feedback loop involving the hypothalamus, pituitary, and thyroid gland regulates the production and release of thyroid hormones. (Fig. 1) The hypothalamus releases thyroid-releasing hormone (TRH), stimulating the pituitary gland to release TSH, in turn stimulating the thyroid gland to release T4 and T3. Enhanced production of T4 and T3

Graves’ disease is an autoimmune disease in which the over activity of the thyroid gland causes the overproduction of the thyroid hormone. This disease was described by Robert J. Graves a doctor from Ireland and is also known as Basedow’s disease. Even though there are several disorders that may result in hypothyroidism, grave disease is one of the most common type of hypothyroidism that occurs in 1 percent of U. S population (Anderson 2010). Furthermore, Grave disease is a disease that can affect anyone, but is more common amongst females before age 40. Concerning, grave disease will attack the immune system making antibodies that will cause the thyroid to enlarge and produce more than the amount of thyroid hormone that your body will need. These hormones that cause the thyroid to enlarge are called thyroid stimulating immunoglobulins. Thyroid stimulating immunoglobulins are antibodies that tells the thyroid gland to become more active and release excess amounts of thyroid hormone into the blood (U.S. National library of medicine).

The main cause of hyperthyroidism Graves’ disease which affects quite a few people in the general population. This disease is characterized as an autoimmune disorder. This means that the body makes antibodies known as thyroid stimulating immunoglobulin that bind and over activate the production of thyroid hormones [3]. So in essence the antibody mimics the thyroid stimulating hormone and when the negative feedback loop is in affect the antibody still binds to the thyroid and T3 and T4 are over produced [2].

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).

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.

Autoimmune thyroiditis, (or Chronic Autoimmune thyroiditis), is a chronic disease in which the body interprets the thyroid glands and its hormone products T3, T4 and TSH as threats, therefore producing special antibodies that target the thyroid’s cells, thereby destroying it. It may present with hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism and with or without a goiter.