The Treatment of Hyperthyroidism

Diagnosis and Treatment1 June 1966The Treatment of HyperthyroidismJEROME M. HERSHMAN, M.D.JEROME M. HERSHMAN, M.D.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-64-6-1306 SectionsAboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail ExcerptHyperthyroidism is a syndrome of metabolic and pathologic disturbances resulting from the action of excessive circulating thyroid hormone on peripheral tissues. In 1835, Robert Graves (1)*recorded the history of a young lady with nervousness, severe palpitation, weakness, weight loss, exophthalmos, and enlargement of the thyroid which was at first soft but then became firmer and asymmetrical. Ninety-three years later, Plummer (4) differentiated hyperthyroidism associated with nodular goiter without exophthalmos from Graves' disease. However, there are many cases intermediate between the conditions described by Graves and Plummer which tend to obscure the distinction between them (5). Diffuse goiter may become...References1. GRAVES RJ: Clinical lectures. London Med. Surg. J. 7: 516, 1835. Google Scholar2. PARRY CH: Elements of Pathology and Therapeutics, Vol. 2. Underwood, London, 1825, p. 111. Google Scholar3. KELLY EC: Calleb Hillier Parry. Med. Classics 5: 3, 1940. Google Scholar4. PLUMMER HS: Function of the thyroid gland containing adenomatous tissue. Trans. Ass. Amer. Physicians 43: 158, 1928. Google Scholar5. MEANS JH: The Thyroid and Its Diseases. J. B. Lippincott Co., Philadelphia, 1937, p. 282. Google Scholar6. VANDERLAAN WP: Cause of hyperthyroidism, in Clinical Endocrinology. I. Edited by ASTWOOD, E. B. Grune & Stratton, New York, 1960, p. 193. Google Scholar7. HERMANNQUARTON HTGC: Psychological changes and psychogenesis in thyroid hormone disorders. J. Clin. Endocr. 25: 327, 1965. 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