If you want to participate you will be asked if you have had Graves’ disease with or without ongoing mental fatigue, as well as you who are thyroid healthy and do not have mental fatigue and who can act as a control person.

CAN YOU JOIN?

To be able to participate in the study, you must be:

• female
• between 18-72 years old

You can be a patient if you:

• were diagnosed with Graves’ disease 15-60 months ago
• have normal thyroid function without Thacapzol / Tiamazol / Thiotil / Propycil
• either have brain fatigue or do not have brain fatigue
• if you have brain fatigue, it should not have an obvious other cause. Brain fatigue should also have started in parallel with your Graves’ disease

You can join as a control person if you:

• have healthy thyroid levels and do not have mental fatigue

We will use the Mental Fatigue Scale as a screening instrument for mental fatigue and you can only participate if you fall within the perimeters we set.

You cannot participate if you have another disease that causes fatigue, multiple sclerosis, another neurological disease myalgic encephalopathy, are pregnant, breastfeeding or have ongoing or recently completed cortisone treatment. As a patient, you should also not have undergone radioactive iodine treatment in the last 18 months.

If this applies to you and you are interested in participating in the study, you can read on at your leisure.

WHAT WILL BE INVESTIGATED?

First, you will be asked to answer a questionnaire concerning mental fatigue. Based on the results, it is decided whether you can join the study either as mentally fatigued or as non-mentally fatigued. If you can join, you are invited to visit Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg.

During the visit with us, you will have to answer eight more questionnaires – two that deal with quality of life, one that deals with anxiety and depression, three short one-page forms that deal with coping and self-esteem, a short personality test and one that deals with eye symptoms. These are well-established tests. Our study coordinator will take blood samples and our doctor will review a range of background factors such as previous current illnesses, medication, information about Graves’ disease, treatment, smoking, alcohol, pregnancies, contraceptives, socioeconomic, heredity, and origin. The doctor also performs sampling of the spinal fluid through a sting in the back.

To be able to screen you to see if you can join, you need to read the research person information. Click here to read. (Only available in Swedish).