ANALYSIS OF CLINICAL PARAMETERS OF PATIENTS WITH GRAVES’ DISEASE

Thyroid disorders are a socially significant problem due to their prevalence, as well as their ability to severely deteriorate the patients’ quality of life. The thyroid gland regulates metabolic intensity. Its normal functioning ensures the body’s energetic balance. Grave’s disease most commonly occurs when the thyroid gland is in hyper function. When the thyroid is in hyper function, it is over-stimulated, and the metabolism is accelerated – the pulse is raised, BMI and cholesterol levels drop, and insulin resistance is observed. Symptoms include increased irritability, hypertension, insomnia, muscle weakness, hand tremor. It is accompanied by goitre and in most cases by endocrine ophthalmopathy. Thyroid eye disease is present in about one out of three people with Graves’ disease. Untreated hyperthyroidism can also lead to osteoporosis.Graves’ disease is thyrotoxicosis – T-cell autoimmune aggression on the thyroid gland. The immune system produces antibodies that are thyroid-stimulating immunoglobulins. They connect with the thyroid cells, imitating the TSH (thyroid-stimulating hormone) activity.Thus, they stimulate the thyroid to produce too much thyroid hormones, which result its increase in size. Thyroid hormones T3 and T4 control the energy usage of the body, hence they affect nearly every organ in the body – even the way heart beats. The increase in T3 and T4 suppresses the secretion of TSH by the negative feedback mechanism. Thus, Graves’ disease is associated with high levels of FT3 and FT4, and low levels of TSH.In this study are presented the results from 13 clinical markers of 40 patients with Graves’ disease in various stages of the disease, and an important criterion for the onset of immunological remission.Data for the fasting serum glucose are presented, as patients with Graves’ disease often have insulin resistance. Haemoglobin and creatinine were also measured.Other clinical markers related to the side effects of the thyrostatic treatment were also measured. The most dangerous one of these is agranulocytosis, which can progress to leukopenia – condition in which the number of white blood cells is reduced below the lower limit. The mean level of the ALAT enzyme was presented as a marker for liver damage over the course of treatment.The statistical analysis of the data gives us the opportunity to identify specific differences between the factors (group markers) in diseased and healthy individuals; as well as to identify different groups of patients that require an individual treatment approach.