A Story About Graves’ Disease

Joes eyes jerked open, immediately seeing the clock read at 2:15 am. Sitting up, he clenched his chest. It felt like his heart was going a mile a minute. Looking around, he realized his vision was blurry and his eyes burned. After walking to the bathroom and turning on the light, his eyes felt strained, as if he was vampire encountering light for the first time. He tried splashing his face with water, just to look up and see his eyes bulging out. He felt like he could barely recognize himself. Touching his throat, he realized the previously small, unnoticeable bump had grown and was extremely visible now. This was the third week in a row, that Joe had experienced these symptoms. It had become intolerable. Finally, Joe decided, enough is enough and that he was going to schedule an appointment with his physician to figure out what was going on. After a series of blood tests, results showed Joe had extremely low levels of Thyroid-stimulating Hormone (TSH), and elevated levels of an antibody called TRAb. His physician diagnosed Joe with Graves’ Disease.

Symptoms and Cause

“Joe” is like so many patients, who often don’t know what is going while they experience a wide array of common symptoms such as:

• Feeling nervous and irritable.

• Having a slight tremor of the hands or fingers.

• Being sensitive to heat with an increase in sweating or warm, moist skin.

• Losing weight, despite wanting to eat more.

• Having an enlarged thyroid gland, also called goiter.

• Having changes in menstrual cycles.

• Not being able to get or keep an erection, called erectile dysfunction, or having less desire for sex. • Having bowel movements often.

• Having bulging eyes

• Being tired.

• Having thick, discolored skin mostly on the shins or tops of the feet, called Graves'dermopathy.

• Having fast or irregular heartbeat, called palpitations.

• Not sleeping well.1

The reason behind these symptoms largely revolves around how Graves’ disease attacks our immune system, not allowing it to function properly. The specific organ it targets is the thyroid gland, which is what causes the “bump” in the neck that Joe was experiencing. The thyroid enlarges due to a small area at the edge of the brain called the pituitary gland, that gets overtaken by an antibody called TRAb. This antibody causes an overproduction of the thyroid hormone by the thyroid gland.

Are you at Risk?

Joe actually developed Graves’ disease due to his mother and grandfather having had the illness. That is one of the risk factors of developing Graves; having a genetic predisposition, just like so many other illnesses. Amongst family history, you can be more prone to developing Graves' disease based on these factors:

• Family History: People who get Graves' disease often have a family history of thyroid conditions or an autoimmune condition. • Sex: Women are much more likely to get Graves' disease than are men.

• Age: Graves' disease mostly happens between the ages of 30 and 60.

• Another autoimmune condition: People with other conditions of the immune system, such as type 1 diabetes or rheumatoid arthritis, have a higher risk.

• Smoking. Cigarette smoking, which can affect the immune system, raises the risk of Graves' disease. People who smoke and have Graves' disease are at higher risk of getting thyroid eye disease.1

Treatment

Just like any patient, Joe was ready to take action to help himself get better. His physician gave him a variety of treatment pathways he could take to alleviate the symptoms of Graves. The physician also explained to Joe that there was no “cure” for Graves, and that all these options could only lead to remission but did not guarantee that symptoms would never come back.

These are current treatment options for Graves' Disease:

1. Radioactive Iodine Therapy

• May raise risk of Thyroid Eye disease
• Must take hormone medicine

2. Anti-Thyroid Medicine

• Side effects: rash, joint pain, liver failure, or decrease in disease-fighting white blood cells

3. Beta Blockers

• Quick alleviant, but not long term

4. Surgery to remove the thyroid

• Must take thyroid medicine for the rest of your life1

The physician then turned to Joe and said that there was another way to get the newest and upcoming treatment for Graves' Disease: clinical research. Clinical research is the best way for patients to gain access to innovative therapies that are not yet widely available, while also receiving close medical monitoring from specialized healthcare teams.

Through clinical research, patients like Joe may be able to try treatments designed to more precisely target the immune pathways involved in Graves’ disease, potentially reducing symptoms with fewer side effects than current standard options. These studies are carefully regulated, meaning patient safety is the top priority, and participants continue to receive high-quality medical care throughout the process. Many clinical trials also cover study-related visits, lab work, and medications at no cost, which can significantly reduce the financial burden of long-term treatment.

Beyond personal benefit, clinical research allows patients to play an active role in advancing medicine. By participating, Joe would not only be taking a step toward better managing his own condition but also helping researchers develop improved therapies for future patients living with Graves’ disease. For many individuals, clinical research offers hope for better treatment options, improved quality of life, and a future where autoimmune conditions like Graves’ disease can be managed more effectively and more safely.

If you find yourself in a position like Joe, contact Prolato Clinical Research Center today, to see if you or a loved one could benefit from current research.

Citations

1. “Graves’ Disease.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 14 June 2024, www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/graves- disease/symptoms-causes/syc-20356240. Accessed 20 Jan. 2026.