News

The Graves' Disease & Thyroid Foundation's offices will be closed on July 1st - 4th.  We would like to wish everyone a safe and happy 4th of July holiday!  

If you've been diagnosed with thyroid eye disease, you know that the current options leave much to be desired: wait, wait, wait, wait some more -- and eventually get approved for one or more surgeries to address bulging, swelling, and double vision. (With steroid therapy sometimes used as a temporary stopgap).  However, the successful trial of a brand new drug could prove to be a game-changer for patients living with this disfiguring and frustrating condition.  The New England Journal of Medicine recently published "Teprotumumab for Thyroid-Associated Ophthalmopathy".  The authors included GDATF Chief Medical and Scientific Officer Dr. Terry Smith as well as GDATF Physician Advisory Board Members Dr. Raymond Douglas and Dr. George Kahaly.  To learn more, please click here for an article from Science Daily or click here to visit Dr. Douglas' Facebook Page.

The Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute is currently recruiting patients for a new clinical study using celecoxib (Celebrex), a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of pain, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and ankylosing spondylitis, as a treatment for active thyroid eye disease (TED).  The study is intended to evaluate the efficacy of COX-2 inhibition in the treatment of active TED and its ability to improve both the acute inflammatory signs and more permanent fibrotic changes of quiescent disease.  Participants must be between the ages of 18 and 80, have a new diagnosis of TED (within the last six months), and have eye signs and symptoms of TED.  Participants will be treated for 3 months (a characteristic period of disease activity) and the results will be compared to standard treatments for mild TED (observation and over-the-counter interventions, such as lubricant eye drops) to assess efficacy. For more information about enrolling in the study, please call the Wilmer Eye Institute at 443.287.5316 and ask to speak to Shelley Casey.

Please join us in San Diego on Saturday, June 10th for a half-day patient education seminar at UC San Diego Shiley Eye Institute! This FREE event will be a wonderful opportunity to connect with fellow patients and family members and to hear from experts on Graves' disease!  Advance registration is required to ensure adequate seating; please click here for details and registration info!

Please save the date for Saturday, June 10th - the GDATF and UC San Diego Shiley Eye Institute will be co-hosting a patient education event! The event will be a 1/2 day starting in the morning - more information will be coming soon on speakers, exact scheduling, and registration!