Graves' disease facts for kids
Graves' disease is a health problem that affects your thyroid gland. Your thyroid is a small, butterfly-shaped gland in your neck. It makes important chemicals called hormones that help your body work properly.
In Graves' disease, your body's immune system (which usually fights off germs) gets confused. Instead of attacking bad germs, it accidentally attacks your own thyroid gland. This makes the thyroid produce too many hormones. When your thyroid makes too many hormones, it's called hyperthyroidism. Graves' disease happens more often in girls and women than in boys and men.
Contents
Your Thyroid Gland
Your thyroid gland is like a control center for your body's energy. The hormones it makes help control how fast your body uses energy. This affects your heart rate, how warm you feel, and even how fast you think.
What is an Autoimmune Disease?
An autoimmune disease is when your body's defense system, called the immune system, makes a mistake. Normally, your immune system protects you from sickness by fighting off things like viruses and bacteria. But in an autoimmune disease, it starts to attack healthy parts of your own body by accident. In Graves' disease, it attacks the thyroid gland.
What is Hyperthyroidism?
When your thyroid gland makes too many hormones, it speeds up many of your body's functions. This is called hyperthyroidism. It can make you feel very energetic, but not in a good way. It might feel like your body is always running on high speed.
Images for kids
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Scan of affected thyroid before (top) and after (bottom) radioiodine therapy
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Most common causes of hyperthyroidism by age
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Marty Feldman used his bulging eyes, caused by Graves' disease, for comedic effect.
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Umm Kulthum in Life Magazine, 1962
See also
In Spanish: Enfermedad de Graves-Basedow para niños
