Graves Disease - Symptoms and Diagnosis - Essay Example

The signs and symptoms of Graves’ disease include hyperactivity, excessive sweating, and hand tremor. On some occasions, patients suffering from this medical condition experience heat intolerance, frequent defecation, itching of the skin, palpitation, and skin moistness. It is worth noting that patients with this medical complication may also experience weight loss despite increased appetite and hair loss (Zaidi 89). Other symptoms of the disease can only be identified through a physical examination of the patient by a medical practitioner. These include excessive lacrimation, premature ventricular expansions and contractions, and rigid thyroid (MacLachlan, Sandra, & Basil 52).

A clinical examination of a patient suffering from Graves’ disease may provide the following results; for instance, a Graves’ disease patient can be examined with rapid heartbeats, muscular weakness, and protuberance of the eyes (either one or both eyes). Fatigue, increased appetite, and weight loss are also other diagnostic results of Graves’ disease (MacLachlan, Sandra, & Basil 76).

PossibleCausess and risk factors
Medical practitioners have characterized Graves’ disease as a condition whose causes are not readily determined and have since concluded that there seems to be a genetic predisposition for the condition. This is an implication that some people are more likely to contract the disease as compared to others and this is a result of their genetic inheritance. Nonetheless, a bacterium called Yersinia Enterocoliticaa has since been associated with the disease. Medical specialists have discovered that the bacterium contributes to the advance of thyroid autoimmunity; which is closely attributed to Graves’ disease (Zaidi 95).

Management
Treatment of Graves’ disease must be administered by a certified medical practitioner and includes the prescription of anti-thyroid drugs. This type of medication is known to limit the secretion of thyroid hormone. Read More