Graves' Disease - All Articles
ALL GRAVES' DISEASE ARTICLES












FAQ
Graves’ disease symptoms include anxiety, weight loss, rapid heartbeat, excessive sweating, sleep problems, more bowel movements, and a swollen thyroid. Many people with Graves’ disease develop Graves’ ophthalmopathy, a complication that causes bulging, gritty, painful eyes and, rarely, vision loss.
Doctors diagnose Graves’ disease using blood tests to measure thyroid hormone levels and check for specific immune proteins that point to anti-thyroid immune activity. They may also request a radioactive iodine uptake and scan or a thyroid ultrasound.
Treatments include beta-blockers to manage symptoms, anti-thyroid medications to reduce thyroid hormone levels, radioactive iodine therapy that destroys thyroid-hormone-producing cells, and surgery to remove the thyroid when necessary. People must take replacement thyroid hormones for the rest of their lives after hyperthyroidism treatment.
Yes, it can cause Graves' ophthalmopathy. This can lead to bulging eyes and vision problems. Treating the underlying Grave’s disease can control thyroid activity before a doctor treats the eye complications with medications, eye drops, devices, and surgery.
Graves’ disease has a genetic component, as it’s more common in people whose family members have the condition. But factors like age, being female, stress, pregnancy, smoking status, and other autoimmune disorders may also contribute.

Elise M. Brett, MD
Medical Reviewer
Dr. Brett practices general endocrinology and diabetes and has additional certification in neck ultrasound and fine-needle aspiration biopsy, which she performs regularly in the office. She is voluntary faculty and associate clinical professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She is a former member of the board of directors of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinology. She has lectured nationally and published book chapters and peer reviewed articles on various topics, including thyroid cancer, neck ultrasound, parathyroid disease, obesity, diabetes, and nutrition support.

Sandy Bassin, MD
Medical Reviewer
Sandy Bassin, MD, is an endocrinology fellow at Mount Sinai in New York City. She is passionate about incorporating lifestyle medicine and plant-based nutrition into endocrinology, particularly for diabetes and obesity management.
She trained at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, where she taught culinary medicine classes to patients and medical trainees. She continued her training at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.
Dr. Bassin has published reviews of nutrition education in medical training and physical activity in type 2 diabetes in Nutrition Reviews, Endocrine Practice, and the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine. She has been featured on the Physician to Physician Plant-Based Nutrition podcast and given many presentations on lifestyle interventions in endocrine disorders.
She stays active through yoga and gardening, and loves to cook and be outdoors.

Kacy Church, MD
Medical Reviewer
Dr. Church always knew that she wanted to pursue endocrinology because the specialty allows for healthy change through patient empowerment. She completed her fellowship in endocrinology, diabetes, and metabolism in 2017 at Stanford University in California.
She loves running, dancing, and watching her sons play sports.

Michael Natter, MD
Medical Reviewer
Michael Natter, MD, is a clinical assistant professor in the department of medicine at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine in New York City. Fusing his background in fine art with his medical practice, he creates medical illustrations and comics to both educate his patients, colleagues, and medical students as well as explore the emotional and human side of medicine. His work has been featured in The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Annals of Internal Medicine, Medscape, BuzzFeed, and others.
Dr. Natter was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes as a child and became interested in medicine at a young age. He initially began his studies in studio art but ultimately attended the Sidney Kimmel Medical College before returning to his home in New York City to complete his internal medicine residency and fellowship.

Anna L. Goldman, MD
Medical Reviewer
Anna L. Goldman, MD, is a board-certified endocrinologist. She teaches first year medical students at Harvard Medical School and practices general endocrinology in Boston.
Dr. Goldman attended college at Wesleyan University and then completed her residency at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, where she was also a chief resident. She moved to Boston to do her fellowship in endocrinology at Brigham and Women's Hospital. She joined the faculty after graduation and served as the associate program director for the fellowship program for a number of years.

Bhargavi Patham, MD, PhD
Medical Reviewer
Bhargavi Patham, MD, is board-certified in internal medicine as well as endocrinology, diabetes, and metabolism. She is currently practicing academic medicine at Houston Methodist Hospital in Texas.
Patham received her Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degree from Government Medical College in Nagpur, India. She received her PhD in cell biology from the University of Georgia in Athens in 2005, and then completed two years of post-doctoral training in immunology at the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut.
Patham completed her residency in internal medicine at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in El Paso, where she was previously an assistant professor of pathophysiology and cell biology at the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine. She completed her endocrinology, diabetes, and metabolism fellowship at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.
- Graves’ disease. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. November 2021.
- Graves' disease. Mayo Clinic. June 14, 2024.