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'Hashimoto's thyroiditis' or 'chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis' is an autoimmune disease where the body's own antibodies attack the cells of the thyroid.
This disorder is believed to be the most common cause of primary hypothyroidism in North America. It occurs far more often in women than in men (10:1 to 20:1), and is most prevalent between 45 and 65 years of age.
In European countries an atrophic form of autoimmune thyroiditis (Ord's thyroiditis) is more common than Hashimoto's thyroiditis.

Contents

Causes

Presentation

Treatment

Eponym

Noted sufferers

References

External links

Causes

A family history of thyroid disorders is common, with the ''HLA-DR5'' gene most strongly implicated conferring a relative risk of 3 in the UK.
The genes implicated vary in different ethnic groups and the incidence is increased in patients with chromosomal disorders, including Turner, Down's, and Klinefelter's syndromes.
The underlying specifics of the immune system destruction of thyroid cells is not clearly understood.
Various autoantibodies may be present against thyroid peroxidase, thyroglobulin and TSH receptors, although a small percentage of patients may have none of these antibodies present. A percentage of the population may also have these antibodies without developing Hashimoto's thyroiditis.

Presentation

In many cases, Hashimoto's thyroiditis usually results in hypothyroidism, although in its acute phase, it can cause a transient thyrotoxic state.
Physiologically, antibodies against thyroid peroxidase and/or thyroglobulin cause gradual destruction of follicles in the thyroid gland. Accordingly, the disease can be detected clinically by looking for these antibodies in the blood. It is also characterised by invasion of the thyroid tissue by leukocytes, mainly T-lymphocytes. It is associated with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Symptoms of Hashimoto's thyroiditis include symptoms of hypothyroidism and a goitre.

Treatment

Treatment is with daily thyroxine, with the sodium salt of thyroxine liothyronine given when the need to raise levels of circulating thyroxine is urgent.

Eponym

Also known as 'Hashimoto's disease', Hashimoto's thyroiditis is named after the Japanese physician Hashimoto Hakaru (1881−1934) of the medical school at Kyushu University,^[1] who first described the symptoms in 1912 in a German publication^[2].

Noted sufferers

★ Anna Nicole Smith The Smoking Gun

References

1.
2. H. Hashimoto: ''Zur Kenntnis der lymphomatösen Veränderung der Schilddrüse (Struma lymphomatosa).'' Archiv für klinische Chirurgie, Berlin, 1912, 97: 219−248.

External links

★ Hashimoto's disease at the Mayo Clinic