know about Autoimmune Thyroiditis in brief

[cezene]

In autoimmune disease, the body's immune system attacks its own cells; in
the case of autoimmune thyroiditis, the cells under attack are in the
thyroid gland. Experts do not know why the immune system starts to injure
the thyroid. One theory is that a virus or bacteria with a protein
resembling a thyroid protein might trigger the response. This theory is
backed up to some extent by the presence of recent infections in people with
autoimmune disease. There is an association between hepatitis C, for
instance, and the onset of autoimmune hypothyroidism. Some experts believe
the infectious-disease theory is not convincing. An alternative hypothesis
is that such patients have abnormal thyroid cells -- possibly from a genetic
defect -- that provoke a suicidal process leading to a direct attack by
T-cells, important agents in the immune-system. The autoimmune diseases of
the thyroid may be categorized as Hashimoto's thyroiditis, atrophic
thyroiditis, and postpartum thyroiditis. In a rare autoimmune disorder known
as Riedel's thyroiditis, patients develop a hard stony mass that suggests
cancer, but the disorder responds well to thyroid replacement and steroids