Graves' disease research study

Researchers in Newcastle are looking for young volunteers (aged 12-24 years) with Graves’ disease, or who have previously been diagnosed with it, to take part in an online focus group.

They are in the process of setting up a research study in GD and would like your opinion regarding how best to do this.

Recent research found that the remission rate (or disappearance of the signs or symptoms of it) in young people with GD is only 20-30% after three years of antithyroid drug treatment. In other words, thyroid gland overactivity (hyperthyroidism) returns in 70 to 80% of people within a year of stopping carbimazole treatment.  

They recently carried out a study which showed that giving one dose of a medicine called rituximab, as well as a year of antithyroid drug, increased the remission rate to nearly 50%.

If rituximab is found to be an effective treatment then it would reduce the number of people who need to have thyroid surgery or radioactive iodine and hence thyroid hormone replacement for life.

To help them study this in more detail, they wish to carry out a bigger trial study over a longer period of time. They are asking for patient input as they try and set this up.

They plan to run two focus groups each lasting for up to an hour. One will be for young people under 16 years of age. The other session will be for young people aged 16 years and over. There will be up to five young people taking part in each meeting. You will receive a £25 Amazon voucher (or similar of your choice) to compensate you for the time you are kindly giving up to help them.

If you have any questions, or if you would like to take part, please email [email protected] for further information.

Deadline for registering your interest is 31 May 2023.