2009-11-06 12:48:46 -
www.medicarefinance.com
The endocrine gland that regulates all body functions, is overactive, resulting in an overproduction of thyroid hormone. The most common form of this condition is Grave's disease. Here, the most noticeable feature is bulging of the eyes. Hyperthyroidism affect adults between ages 20 and 50. It occurs more often in women.
Causes of Grave's Disease
Cause is an autoimmune disorder (body develops
antibodies that stimulate excessive amounts of thyroid hormone), thyroid nodules or tumors, and thyroiditis (inflammation of thyroid gland).
Signs and Symptoms of Grave's Disease
Graves' disease is a term used to describe the commonest variety of hyperthyroidism, which is regarded as having an autoimmune basis. Autoimmune disease may be understood as a process by which the body sees some part of itself as being foreign and reacts to it much the same way that it would with any bacteria or virus. In the case of Graves' disease, the body sees the thyroid gland as the foreign object and produces antibodies that attack the thyroid gland. This will often (but not in all cases) cause the thyroid gland to become over active. Graves' eye disease is currently believed to be due to a similar autoimmune reaction. However, in the case of Graves' eye disease (Infiltrative Thyroid Ophthalmopathy), different antibodies attack the muscles associated with eye and eyelid movement. Although the thyroid gland and the eye may be under attack by the same immune system, it is felt that both conditions remain independent of one another. The antibodies that attack the eye can cause inflammation and swelling of the muscles around the eye, which is what can eventually cause protrusion of the eyes, double vision and retraction of the eyelids (see above photo's). In some cases the muscles may be enlarged up to eight times their normal size and may mimic an orbital tumor.
Symptoms include: hyperactivity, feeling warm or hot all the time, tremors, sweating, itching skin, pounding, rapid, irregular heartbeat, weight loss, despite overeating, older persons may gain weight, marked anxiety, restlessness, sleeplessness, fatigue, weakness, protruding eyes (exophthalmos) ,double vision (sometimes), diarrhea (sometimes), hair loss (sometimes), and goiter (enlarged thyroid) (sometimes).
www.medicarefinance.com 
