The role of long term use of antithyroid drugs in Graves’ disease

Abstract

Graves' disease is an autoimmune disease characterized by hyperthyroidism due to circulating autoantibodies. Radioactive iodine (RAI) and antithyroid drugs (ATD) are the preferred initial treatment options in Graves' disease in many parts of the world. Long term treatment with methimazole in Grave's disease patients beyond the recommended period is shown to be safe and effective and emerging evidence suggests that continuous methimazole therapy may even be superior to RAI therapy in some aspects. Recent randomized trials comparing long-term methimazole to RAI in patients who relapse, have confirmed these findings Sri Lanka Journal of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism 2013; 3: 41-44 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/sjdem.v3i1.5503

Keywords

• graves’ disease
• long term antithyroid drugs
• radioactive iodine