Submitted by kaylee_2003 on February 21, 2008

• Category: Science
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Graves Disease

Graves’ Disease
A. Definition and Causes
Graves' disease is the most common form of hyperthyroidism. It occurs when your immune system mistakenly attacks your thyroid gland and causes it to overproduce the hormone called thyroxin. When you have too much thyroid hormone in your system, your body's metabolism rate can increase by 60 to 100 percent because thyroxin regulates your cell’s metabolism. A higher metabolism can lead to a number of health problems, such as an irregular heartbeat, anxiety, and the inability to sit still. Normally, your immune system uses antibodies and lymphocytes to help protect against viruses, bacteria, and antigens that invade your body. In...

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