‘You are making fun of someone who has an anomaly due to an illness! It shows the darkness of your souls, and the jealousy in your heart. I do not wish Graves’ disease to anyone. But I think sometimes I would like you to understand,’ said Brenda Biya a few weeks ago on social media. But what is Graves’ disease?
Graves’ disease is related to hyperthyroidism, which can have more or less significant impacts on the functioning of the body: cardiovascular, respiratory, muscular, and others.
Hyperthyroidism is defined by too much production (more than the body needs) of thyroid hormones, produced by the thyroid. The latter is an endocrine gland, producing essential hormones in the regulation of the various functions of the organism. It is located at the level of the anterior part of the neck, below the larynx.
The signs and symptoms are as follows:
goiter (enlarged thyroid);
exophthalmos (movement of the eye out of its orbit);
myxedema (cutaneous infiltration) in the shins;
gynecomastia12,13 (excessive development of the mammary glands in men);
increased heart rate;
increased metabolic activity;
more rarely, digital hippocratism14 (deformation of the finger and nails)