Cause of Thyroid Eye Disease


The cause of thyroid eye disease is not known for certain. Medical research on the disease has determined that the condition stems from an autoimmune condition. Autoimmune problems occur when your immune system begins attacking you body instead of foreign bacteria and other invaders. Rheumatoid arthritis, for example, is an autoimmune condition because the lymphocytes (cells used to fight those invading bacteria and viruses) begin attacking the joints causing inflammation, swelling, and pain. In the case of thyroid eye disease, the lymphocytes begin attacking healthy tissue around the eyes which leads to inflammation and swelling.

There is a general consensus that medical research does not fully understand autoimmune conditions. In this case, it is unclear what sets off the attack on the healthy eye tissue by the immune system. The trigger may be connected to thyroid problems or vice versa. In Grave’s Disease, the thyroid seems to also be a victim of your body’s own immune system.

What is known about the connection is that the vast majority of people who have thyroid eye disease test positive for an antibody (the technical term for a white cell) that has been recognised as a cause for Grave’s Disease (also referred to as an overactive thyroid). Because both the eye and the thyroid are home to a molecule known as the TSH receptor, they both seem to be affected by this antibody. Of course, the eye tissue and the thyroid are not always affected at the same time and, in some cases, one may be affected but not the other.

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