Thyroid Eye Disease: Know Causes, Symptoms and Treatments

Thyroid eye disease or TED is a very rare disease where the tissues around the eye are damaged causing inflammation. The extraocular muscle, connective and fatty tissues are the ones that when damaged cause TED.

Thyroid eye disease is usually seen along with Graves’ disease, an autoimmune disease that affects the thyroid, skin, and eyes. Although they occur around the same time, Graves’ disease doesn’t cause TED.

Thyroid eye disease bulges your eye and causes inflammation that makes the muscles, fat and other tissues expand. Sometimes, the swelling might be too much that doesn’t let you close your eye all the way.

If you are a patient suffering from Graves’ disease, some of the factors that increase the risk of you getting TED are:

Genetic Factors

Smoking

Radioiodine treatment

While the symptoms may widely vary amongst patients, some of the common symptoms of thyroid eye disease are:

Dry/watery eyes

Light sensitivity

Double vision

Irritation (prickling sensation in the eyes similar to that of dust in the eyes)

Pain and pressure

Redness of the eye

Prevention and Treatment Of TED

Thyroid eye disease usually cannot be stopped but reports claim that radiation treatment with iodine used for hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid gland) can worsen the situation.

If you are someone who is undergoing radioiodine treatment and still need to keep thyroid eye disease under control, doctors might suggest taking steroids. While the steroid might help you keep the disease under control, if TED still doesn’t subside, you might need to get a surgery done. The disease has varying effects on people and the inflammation around the eye can last from 6 months to 2 years.

While most people see thyroid eye disease subside automatically and only experience mild symptoms, around 3 to 5 percent patients may experience severe symptoms along with loss of vision.

Disclaimer: The information given in this article is based on general assumptions. News18 does not confirm them. Before implementing these, please contact the concerned expert.

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