Understanding Graves' Disease: Symptoms, Causes, and Care

May 25, 2025

Understanding Graves' Disease: Symptoms, Causes, and Care

Graves' disease is a condition that affects the thyroid gland, a small but powerful organ in your neck that produces hormones impacting many parts of your body. When the immune system mistakenly triggers the thyroid to overproduce these hormones, it leads to hyperthyroidism, which can cause a range of symptoms. Let’s explore what Graves' disease is, its effects, and how to manage it.

What Is Graves' Disease?

Graves' disease is an autoimmune disorder that causes the thyroid gland to produce excessive thyroid hormones, leading to hyperthyroidism. These hormones influence everything from your metabolism to your heart rate, so the condition can affect multiple organs. While anyone can develop Graves' disease, it’s more common in women and people over 30. Treatment focuses on reducing hormone levels and relieving symptoms to help you feel your best.

Common Symptoms of Graves' Disease

The overproduction of thyroid hormones can lead to a variety of symptoms, including:

Feeling nervous, irritable, or tired
Slight tremors in your hands or fingers
Increased sensitivity to heat, excessive sweating, or warm, moist skin
Unexplained weight loss despite increased appetite
An enlarged thyroid gland (goiter)
Changes in menstrual cycles or sexual function (e.g., erectile dysfunction or reduced libido)
Frequent bowel movements
Rapid or irregular heartbeat (palpitations)
Difficulty sleeping
Thyroid Eye Disease (Graves' Ophthalmopathy)

About 25% of people with Graves' disease experience thyroid eye disease, where tissues and muscles around the eyes become inflamed. Symptoms may include bulging eyes, gritty or painful eyes, puffy or retracted eyelids, redness, light sensitivity, blurred or double vision, or, in rare cases, vision loss.

What Causes Graves' Disease?

Graves' disease stems from an immune system malfunction, though the exact reason isn’t fully understood. The immune system produces an antibody called thyrotropin receptor antibody (TRAb), which mimics the pituitary gland’s hormone and over stimulates the thyroid, leading to excess hormone production.

Thyroid eye disease may result from a similar immune response, causing carbohydrate buildup behind the eyes. It can appear before, during, or after hyperthyroidism, or even without hyperthyroidism in some cases.

Risk Factors for Graves' Disease

Family History: A family history of thyroid or autoimmune conditions raises your risk.
Sex: Women are more likely to develop the condition than men.
Age: It’s most common between ages 30 and 60.
Other Autoimmune Conditions: Conditions like type 1 diabetes or rheumatoid arthritis increase risk.
Smoking: Smoking not only raises the risk of Graves' disease but also worsens thyroid eye disease.

Potential Complications

Pregnancy Complications: Miscarriage, preterm birth, fetal thyroid problems, poor fetal growth, preeclampsia, or heart failure in the pregnant person.
Heart Problems: Irregular heart rhythms or heart failure due to the heart’s inability to pump enough blood.
Thyroid Storm: A rare, life-threatening condition with sudden spikes in thyroid hormones, causing fever, confusion, tremors, irregular heartbeat, or coma, requiring immediate medical care.
Brittle Bones: Untreated hyperthyroidism can weaken bones, leading to osteoporosis by reducing calcium absorption.

What to do as TCM Practitioners

As TCM practitioners, you are instrumental in identifying symptoms that may indicate Graves' disease, such as nervousness, unexplained weight loss, or heart palpitations, which can overlap with other health conditions. To ensure a precise diagnosis, promptly refer patients to a qualified healthcare professional for thorough assessment. If patients present with rapid or irregular heartbeat or vision loss, immediately advise them to seek emergency medical care, as these symptoms may reflect critical complications requiring swift intervention.