What Is Graves' Disease?
2. Causes
As mentioned, Graves’ disease is a type of autoimmune condition, and little is known about autoimmune conditions in general. The immune system creates antibodies that help to directly combat bacteria and other pathogens. For some reason, the body will also sometimes produce antibodies that cause problems with the thyroid gland.
The antibody associated with Graves’ disease actually overrides the mechanism that is usually responsible for regulating the thyroid gland. This, in turn, means that too many of the thyroid hormones are produced. That the reason this happens is not at all well understood makes it very difficult to treat the cause of the patient’s symptoms.
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