Question: My 40-year-old sister has been diagnosed with Grave’s disease. What is she facing?

Dr. Cwynar's answer:
Graves is an autoimmune dysfunction making the thyroid gland overactive and causing symptoms that include anxiety, weight loss, sleeplessness, and bulging eyes. Usually Grave's is first treated with medication, and up to 40 percent of people are permanently cured. The medicine is taken for a minimum of one year and then stopped. If your sister is still hyperthyroid after this course of drug therapy, then she will most likely need radio-iodine therapy. The name sounds ominous, but it is completely safe and slows down the thyroid (making it hypothyroid) to the point that medication is then given to compensate for it. This treatment is much safer in the long run than staying hyperthyroid or taking further medication for hyperthyroid.