Many believe, that TRAb is an antibody only people with Graves have. Many also call them Graves’ antibodies. And that high levels of TRAb is the same as hyper thyroid. This is not the case. As there are 3 types of TRAb, stimulating, blocking and cleavage. People with hypo thyroid can also have high levels of TRAb, So this antibody is of interest to all with thyroid disease.
Abstract
There are 3 kinds of TRAb or TSHR abs, stimulating, blocking and cleavage; previously called neutral.
Both hypothyroid and hyper thyroid can have high levels of TRAb.
Some Graves’ patients have both blocking and stimulating TRAb. They will fluctuate between hyper thyroid and hypo thyroid.
One believed earlier, that the third kind of TRAb one had found, was neutral. But now one has realized, this third TRAb can actually cause cell death in the thyroid. That is, it kills thyrocytes.
People with atophic Ord’s (athropic AITD) have much higher levels of TRAb than people with Hashimotos. We mistakenly call both atropic AITD and AIDT that starts with a goiter, for Hashimotos. But these are two different diseases. You may not have been aware that you had a goiter, but the gland has been somewhat enlarged in true Hashimotos. And the gland keeps it’s size throughout the disease. But in Ord’s, the gland fades away, atrophies. This might be due in part to these cleavage TRAb s.
When the gland is gone or mostly gone, there will not be high TRAb levels anymore. As all thyroid antibodies are made in the gland.
There is also a section on iodine supplementation and Graves.
