Does Graves disease occur in other countries as commonly as it does in the US?
Graves’ Disease is a type of autoimmune disease that causes over-activity of the thyroid gland, causing hyperthyroidism. The thyroid gland helps set the rate of metabolism, which is the rate at which the body uses energy. When the thyroid is too active, it makes more thyroid hormones than the body needs. High levels of thyroid hormones can cause side effects such as weight loss, rapid heart rate and nervousness. This is a common disease that affects 2 percent of all women at some time in their lives. Graves’ Disease also tends to affect women between the ages of 20 and 40, although it also occurs in infants, children, and the elderly.
Graves disease affects 200 million people worldwide and 13 million of them are in the United States, while there is probably not one country that has more than 13 million Graves disease sufferers, it is still very prevalent across the globe.
Here’s a link that may help you or someone you know that may suffer from Graves disease.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001398/
