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How Nutrient Deficiencies Contribute to Symptoms in GD

© Elaine Moore

Patients with Graves’ disease (GD) are unique in that each patient has different symptoms. In younger patients, the most common symptoms are nervousness and anxiety, however some young patients may merely experience menstrual disorders or eye problems. In older patients, the most common symptoms are related to the heart and include hypertension, and irregular heart rhythms, although many elderly Graves’ patients may suffer from apathy and depression. Symptoms in GD run the gamut, ranging from dry eyes and hair to digestive disturbances and heart failure. Some patients may have a plethora of different symptoms while others may experience only one predominant symptom. Some patients may have mild symptoms while others have such severe muscle weakness they can no longer climb stairs. For the most part, these variations can be attributed to nutritional factors.

Symptoms in Graves’ disease have two primary causes: 1) the effects of excess thyroid hormone and 2) nutrient deficiencies. Nutrient deficiencies mainly result from malabsorption (improper absorption of nutrients in the gut) and the increased metabolic activities of the hyperthyroid body. Metabolism or metabolic activities refers to the body’s functions, such as breaking down food to release energy.

In the hyperthyroid state, food passes through the body so quickly that nutrients are seldom given the chance to be properly absorbed. As a result many patients with GD experience what are known as "malabsorption syndromes." Symptoms associated with malabsorption include excess defecation (increase in number of bowel movements) along with fatty stools (steatorrhea). Patients with steatorrhea typically have pale bulky stools that rise to the top of the water in the toilet bowl. Steatorrhea may also be seen in patients with gluten sensitivity, a disorder that often accompanies Graves’ disease.

Besides malabsorption, nutrient deficiencies result from the increased nutrient demands experienced by patients with GD. Every single process in the body, including the production of thyroid hormone, requires a variety of different specific minerals and vitamins. The harder the body works, the more nutrients are depleted. As the body’s stores of nutrients are exhausted, patients with GD experience specific nutrient deficiencies. In a chain reaction, these nutrient deficiencies cause symptoms of their own and exacerbate others.

The most common nutrient deficiencies seen in GD are deficiencies of vitamins A, B1, B2, B6, C, D, E and K, and the minerals potassium, copper, magnesium, calcium and manganese. Patients with GD are also most always deficient in essential fatty acids. Specific symptoms associated with these deficiencies include night blindness caused by vitamin A deficiency, impaired calcium excretion caused by vitamin D deficiency, and muscle weakness caused by vitamin K deficiency. Deficiencies of B6 contribute to muscle weakness and deficiencies of B1 may contribute to cardiac or heart problems.