A Grave Disease
Hyperthyroidism occurs when the thyroid, a gland that’s placed in the bottom part of your neck, begins to work at an abnormally fast rate, producing a lot more hormones that what it’s supposed to. Its most common symptoms are unexplainable weight loss, which is often accompanied by an increase of appetite and food consumption, body and more specifically muscle pains, hair loss, intolerance or increased sensitivity to heat, fatigue and mild to acute depression. Although it’s not a fatal condition on its own, the toll it takes on the human body can be very severe, especially left unchecked. Minor cases of hyperthyroidism can be confused with a variety of other diseases, especially if the physician fails to identify all of the symptoms. Early stages of a more acute case of hyperthyroidism can have the same problem, and sometimes the unfortunate event of someone taking some sort of drug or making a change in their lifestyle that worsens the condition is unavoidable. Hyperthyroidism, like we said, is not fatal, but it is a disease that accompanies you throughout your entire life span. You will be required to take medication daily and it is recommended that you change your diet as to compensate for the changes and imbalances caused by your malfunctioning thyroid.
One of the most acute cases of hyperthyroidism is Graves Disease. Graves disease symptoms are far worse than those of a milder case of hyperthyroidism. In fact, hyperthyroidism is commonly seen as more of a symptom of Graves Disease than the opposite.
Among all Graves disease symptoms, the most striking one is Graves’ ophthalmopathy. What basically happens is that the auto antibodies that result from the hyperactivity of the thyroid bind with tissue around the eye and cause acute discomfort, retraction and sometimes fissures in the lids, extreme puffiness of the eyes and conjunctivitis, among other symptoms.
But Graves disease has other striking symptoms that can be damaging to both your health and your image. The thyroid will become enlarged, a condition commonly known as goiter, causing great swelling in the neck. Increased pressure on the vocal chords will make the patient’s voice extremely hoarse. It will also affect the cardiovascular system, although not necessarily in a life-threatening manner, but enough to make life extremely uncomfortable. Treatment for the disease is varied and depends on the patient, severity and degree of progression of the disease, but in extreme cases surgery is advised.
