WHAT CAN HAPPEN BECAUSE OF AN OVERACTIVE THYROID?
For several weeks, Barbara Bush suffered what she assumed was just stress. Although Mrs. Bush inexplicably lost 18 pounds, she wasn’t particularly worried. When her eyes became irritated however, she turned to her doctors What the First Lady eventually learned was that she is one of 7,000,000 Americans who suffer from one of two common thyroid problems. Barbara Bush’s thyroid was too active – a condition called hyperthyroidism or thyrotoxicosis, also known as Graves’ Disease. To explain what thyrotoxicosis is like, picture yourself sitting in a car that is parked and idling quietly in the driveway. Now imagine pressing the accelerator until the engine is revving up in neutral, but you are still going no place. The engine is getting hotter and hotter, straining more and more, you are burning up more and more gasoline but you are still going no place. About 2,000,000 Americans are similarly revved up. Their thyroids pump out excess hormones, which push their metabolism into overdrive. Th
