Anti-rheumatic drugs could prevent thyroid disease

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Anti-rheumatic drugs could help to prevent the development of autoimmune thyroid disease, an observational study suggests.

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis are at increased risk of autoimmune thyroid diseases, such as Hashimoto's disease and Graves' disease and they are usually treated with immunomodulatory drugs that affect the immune system and are given thyroid hormone to compensate for the changes in normal thyroid function that accompany autoimmune thyroid disease, the Swedish researchers say.