Overview
- Citing World Thyroid Day coverage on May 25, experts repeated EUGOGO estimates that 25–50% of people with Graves disease develop some degree of thyroid eye disease and about 3–5% can progress to sight‑threatening forms.
- Thyroid eye disease is an autoimmune process driven by antibodies against the TSH receptor that inflame orbital fibroblasts, cause muscle and fat enlargement, and produce symptoms such as proptosis, double vision, redness and a gritty feeling.
- Clinicians singled out tobacco as a major, modifiable risk factor because smoking increases incidence and severity of orbitopathy and makes patients less likely to respond to corticosteroids and biologic therapies.
- Care follows a stage‑based, multidisciplinary pathway: confirm thyroid dysfunction with TSH/T4/T3 testing, restore euthyroidism, treat active inflammation with IV corticosteroids or immunomodulators, then plan reconstructive surgery once disease is inactive.
- Doctors stressed the human toll and practical steps patients can take: seek prompt endocrine and eye clinic follow‑up for new visual symptoms, stop smoking to improve outcomes, and expect greater screening and coordinated care from clinics and public campaigns.