Treatment of Graves' disease: The American way

Abstract

The treatment of patients with Graves' disease involves a physician making a clinical decision between one of the three modalities available for treatment, administering the treatment and following the patients. There appears to be a difference in treatment bias for treating the ‘average’ patient with Graves' disease, with American physicians preferring radioactive iodine while their European and Japanese cohorts prefer long-term anti-thyroid drugs. There are no facts to support this bias. The treating physician usually makes the decision based on his or her preference. In addition, American physicians are under pressure to prescribe the most cost-effective therapy, leading to an even stronger bias towards radioactive iodine.