Graves Disease

Hoping to spare others the medical run-around she once endured, Kelly G. Ripken has established an education and referral program for people suffering from Graves' disease and other thyroid disorders.Ripken, the wife of Orioles legend Cal Ripken Jr., will serve as co-director of a program at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Initial funding is a $250,000 donation from the Kelly & Cal Ripken Foundation.With this program, people can make a phone call to speak to someone who will find answers to questions about thyroid disorders.

A former assistant professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine filed a $1.1 million federal lawsuit against the university yesterday, accusing officials of discriminating against her because of her disabilities.Dr. Barbara Miller, an instructor in the medical school's radiology department from August 1992 to January 1996, alleges in the suit that officials refused to allow her to work part time after she suffered congestive heart failure and was diagnosed with Graves' disease -- a condition in which the thyroid gland enlarges and produces too much thyroid hormone, causing anxiety and restlessness, palpitations and weight loss.

I recently developed Graves' disease and have been having problems with my eyes. They seem to "bulge," and are quite irritated and puffy. What causes these symptoms? Will they go away once my thyroid is treated? What can be done for my eyes?In Graves' disease, a common disorder, the thyroid gland enlarges and produces too much thyroid hormone, a condition called hyperthyroidism. With it comes anxiety and restlessness; palpitations; weight loss despite an increased appetite and food intake; excessive sweating and intolerance to heat; tremors of the fingers; fatigue and muscle weakness; and diarrhea or an increased number of bowel movements.

PHILADELPHIA -- After many years of suffering with an autoimmune disease called lupus, Virginia Ladd realized that no one was focusing attention on things she had learned the hard way:* That autoimmune disorders -- in which the immune system attacks the body's own tissue -- often run in families.* That they mostly strike women.* That they are as widespread and life-threatening as cancer and heart disease, yet many sufferers are initially dismissed as whiners and hypochondriacs."Unfortunately, physicians rarely take a family history of autoimmune diseases," said Ms. Ladd, 54. "I had an aunt who died with lupus at age 45. She was diagnosed through an autopsy.

BARCELONA, Spain -- Eighteen months ago, her feet were nearly amputated. Yesterday, those same feet carried Gail Devers to the Olympic gold medal in the race that ordained her the fastest woman on earth.The American medical community isn't going to enjoy hearing the story of Devers. For two years, doctors misdiagnosed her life-threatening thyroid problem, and Devers said it was "a miracle" she recovered to win the women's Olympic 100 meters.Devers, 25, endured breathing difficulties, migraine headaches and temporary loss of vision before learning she was suffering from Graves disease in September 1990.

There's The Story . . . the fairy-tale account of how an autographed napkin and a mother playing Cupid helped bring Kelly and Cal Ripken Jr. together; then there's the lesser-known tale of what took place six months later.The latter begins not with Once upon a time but with a line from Dickens: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times . . .Kelly had just returned from an idyllic trip to Japan with the Orioles in 1984. She and her boyfriend, baseball superstar Cal Ripken Jr., had discussed getting engaged as they waited in a Tokyo airport.

Although heartened by Gail Devers' gold-medal comeback in the women's 100-meter race and near-miss in yesterday's 100-meter hurdles, physicians specializing in thyroid conditions say they are perplexed and disturbed by her account of her battle against Graves' disease. Some of the pieces, they say, just don't compute.In particular, they say it is virtually impossible that the radioactive iodine she took to quell her overactive thyroid caused her feet to become so swollen and inflamed that doctors considered cutting them off.They don't doubt that Devers had severe foot problems.

NEW YORK -- Four months ago, Gail Devers-Roberts was being carried daily from her bed to her bath by her husband. Yesterday, she was sprinting on her own, soaring over hurdles to win a national track championship at Downing Stadium."

WASHINGTON -- In an extraordinary coincidence, President Bush and first lady Barbara Bush have the same easily treatable thyroid ailment -- Graves' disease -- Mr. Bush's doctors said yesterday.The disease, cause by an overactive thyroid, is not contagious and very seldom strikes both marriage partners, medical experts said.Mr. Bush will cut his schedule for the next week while he undergoes treatment for the thyroid problem believed to have caused his irregular heartbeat, said the president's personal physician, Dr. Burton Lee.Graves' disease can affect the eyes -- as in Mrs. Bush's case -- or the heart, as in the president's, by speeding up the body's metabolism.

Boston -- WHITE HOUSE doctors are concerned that George and Barbara Bush have Graves' disease.The Secret Service was dispatched to find how much iodine and lithium is in the drinking water at the White House, Bush's residences in Kennebunkport, Me., and Camp David, Md., and his former vice- presidential home at the Naval Observatory."

Graves' disease is a disorder in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks the thyroid gland and causes it to make too much of the hormone thyroxine. Because the thyroid gland regulates the body's metabolism, weight, energy, mood and organ functions can be affected when there is a problem. Dr. Asha Thomas, an internal medicine specialist at Sinai Hospital with a sub-specialty in endocrinology and metabolism, writes about the condition. * Graves' disease can develop in anyone at any age, but it develops most often in women after the age of 20. A family history of thyroid disease is associated with increased incidence of Graves' disease.

Jerome Featherstone Sr. was happy that his son, a wrestler for Boys' Latin, was sick with a cold last weekend. Not that he was glad his son was ill, just that it was only a cold and not a side effect of Jerome Jr.'s bigger problem, a thyroid disorder called Graves' disease. The Featherstones said Dr. William Valente of Mercy Medical Center, considered one of the nation's leading endocrinologists, first diagnosed their son as having the disease in mid-November. It is characterized by an enlarged thyroid, a rapid pulse and an increased metabolism.

Hoping to spare others the medical run-around she once endured, Kelly G. Ripken has established an education and referral program for people suffering from Graves' disease and other thyroid disorders.Ripken, the wife of Orioles legend Cal Ripken Jr., will serve as co-director of a program at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Initial funding is a $250,000 donation from the Kelly & Cal Ripken Foundation.With this program, people can make a phone call to speak to someone who will find answers to questions about thyroid disorders.

A former assistant professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine filed a $1.1 million federal lawsuit against the university yesterday, accusing officials of discriminating against her because of her disabilities.Dr. Barbara Miller, an instructor in the medical school's radiology department from August 1992 to January 1996, alleges in the suit that officials refused to allow her to work part time after she suffered congestive heart failure and was diagnosed with Graves' disease -- a condition in which the thyroid gland enlarges and produces too much thyroid hormone, causing anxiety and restlessness, palpitations and weight loss.

I recently developed Graves' disease and have been having problems with my eyes. They seem to "bulge," and are quite irritated and puffy. What causes these symptoms? Will they go away once my thyroid is treated? What can be done for my eyes?In Graves' disease, a common disorder, the thyroid gland enlarges and produces too much thyroid hormone, a condition called hyperthyroidism. With it comes anxiety and restlessness; palpitations; weight loss despite an increased appetite and food intake; excessive sweating and intolerance to heat; tremors of the fingers; fatigue and muscle weakness; and diarrhea or an increased number of bowel movements.

PHILADELPHIA -- After many years of suffering with an autoimmune disease called lupus, Virginia Ladd realized that no one was focusing attention on things she had learned the hard way:* That autoimmune disorders -- in which the immune system attacks the body's own tissue -- often run in families.* That they mostly strike women.* That they are as widespread and life-threatening as cancer and heart disease, yet many sufferers are initially dismissed as whiners and hypochondriacs."Unfortunately, physicians rarely take a family history of autoimmune diseases," said Ms. Ladd, 54. "I had an aunt who died with lupus at age 45. She was diagnosed through an autopsy.

Although heartened by Gail Devers' gold-medal comeback in the women's 100-meter race and near-miss in yesterday's 100-meter hurdles, physicians specializing in thyroid conditions say they are perplexed and disturbed by her account of her battle against Graves' disease. Some of the pieces, they say, just don't compute.In particular, they say it is virtually impossible that the radioactive iodine she took to quell her overactive thyroid caused her feet to become so swollen and inflamed that doctors considered cutting them off.They don't doubt that Devers had severe foot problems.

BARCELONA, Spain -- Eighteen months ago, her feet were nearly amputated. Yesterday, those same feet carried Gail Devers to the Olympic gold medal in the race that ordained her the fastest woman on earth.The American medical community isn't going to enjoy hearing the story of Devers. For two years, doctors misdiagnosed her life-threatening thyroid problem, and Devers said it was "a miracle" she recovered to win the women's Olympic 100 meters.Devers, 25, endured breathing difficulties, migraine headaches and temporary loss of vision before learning she was suffering from Graves disease in September 1990.

There's The Story . . . the fairy-tale account of how an autographed napkin and a mother playing Cupid helped bring Kelly and Cal Ripken Jr. together; then there's the lesser-known tale of what took place six months later.The latter begins not with Once upon a time but with a line from Dickens: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times . . .Kelly had just returned from an idyllic trip to Japan with the Orioles in 1984. She and her boyfriend, baseball superstar Cal Ripken Jr., had discussed getting engaged as they waited in a Tokyo airport.

I suppose it's only right to start out extolling the virtue of the Twins and Braves, Cal Ripken, the exciting Super Bowl last January, Michael Jordan, the Duke basketball team, the Redskins and those other headline hogs.But that would be too easy. And, besides, those events, teams and people are the things that will stick in our minds until another 12 months come and go and it's time to reflect once again.Running the soon to perish 1991 back over the cockles of the mind, these are the folks, feats and festivities that fall into the front row, ready for re-inspection:* Pat Bradley.