Where your DNA places you among other people, and the studies behind it.
Not tailored to your result, and not medical advice
Quit Or Avoid Smoking: Smoking is the best documented modifiable risk factor for Graves disease. A 2002 meta-analysis of smoking and thyroid disorders found current smokers had an odds ratio of 3.30 (95% CI 2.09 to 5.22) for Graves disease compared with never smokers, and ever-smoking carried an odds ratio of 4.40 (95% CI 2.88 to 6.73) for Graves ophthalmopathy, the eye involvement that can accompany the condition. Ex-smokers in the same analysis showed no statistically significant excess risk of Graves disease (OR 1.41, 95% CI 0.77 to 2.58), which is consistent with the association weakening after stopping. The excess risk associated with smoking is larger for the eye disease than for the thyroid disease alone. European Journal of Endocrinology (PubMed)
Go Easy On Kelp And Seaweed: The thyroid uses iodine to make thyroid hormone, and NIDDK notes that people with Graves disease or another autoimmune thyroid disorder may be sensitive to harmful effects from too much iodine in the diet. Eating foods with large amounts of iodine, such as kelp, dulse, and other kinds of seaweed, may cause or worsen hyperthyroidism, and iodine supplements can have the same effect. This is worth knowing before starting a seaweed-based supplement, a kelp tablet, or a diet heavy in seaweed. Anyone already under care for a thyroid condition can raise the question of iodine intake with their clinician. NIDDK (NIH)
Get Selenium From Everyday Foods: Selenium sits at the center of the thyroid's antioxidant enzymes, and epidemiological evidence links low dietary selenium intake with greater susceptibility to Graves disease. A review in Hormones notes that grain, fruit and vegetables grown across much of Europe are poor selenium sources, while eggs, milk, meat and seafood raise selenium status in omnivores. One randomised placebo-controlled trial in 159 people with mild, recent-onset eye disease reported less inflammation, better eye-specific symptoms and improved quality of life over six months in the selenium arm, but the same review calls the evidence for routine selenium use in Graves hyperthyroidism itself ambiguous. Selenium has a narrow useful range, so it is a question for a clinician rather than something to self-manage. Hormones (PMC)
Keep Stress Claims In Perspective: Stressful life events are widely described as a trigger for Graves disease, and the plausible mechanism is that stress hormones shift immune signalling toward the Th2 pattern seen in this condition. The evidence is genuinely mixed. A 2023 review states that the role of stressful events in the development of Graves disease remains controversial, and cites a prospective five-year follow-up of 790 people with a family history of autoimmune thyroid disease that found no causal association between stress and Graves disease. Sleep, exercise and social support are worth having for general health, but they should not be sold as prevention for this condition. International Journal of Molecular Sciences (PMC)
Know The Limits Of Prevention: Graves disease is largely not lifestyle-preventable, and it is more honest to say so than to pad a list. A population-based twin study estimated heritability at 0.60 (95% CI 0.49 to 0.71), with the remaining 0.40 attributed to environment unique to the individual rather than the shared family setting, and that unique environmental component is only partly understood. Beyond not smoking and not overloading on iodine, no lifestyle program has been shown to prevent it. Symptoms such as a fast or irregular heartbeat, unexplained weight loss, heat intolerance, tremor, or changes in the eyes are worth raising with a clinician, since the condition is treatable once identified. European Journal of Endocrinology (PMC)
How much of this is genetic?
Genetics explains 79% of why people differ in this trait. The rest is environment, daily habits and chance.
Heritability estimate: Brix et al. 2001, J Clin Endocrinol Metab
Background and further reading
Graves' disease is the most common cause of hyperthyroidism, an autoimmune condition in which the immune system produces antibodies (thyroid-stimulating immunoglobulins) that bind and activate the receptor for thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSHR) on thyroid cells. This drives the gland to overproduce thyroid hormone. Symptoms can include a rapid or irregular heartbeat, weight loss despite normal appetite, heat intolerance, tremor, anxiety, and fatigue. Some people develop a visibly enlarged thyroid (goiter) or Graves' ophthalmopathy, in which the tissues around the eyes become inflamed and the eyes appear to bulge. The condition is roughly seven to eight times more common in women than men and most often begins between ages 30 and 60 [1].
Genetic Basis: Twin studies indicate a strong hereditary component. A population-based study of Danish twin cohorts estimated that genetic factors account for roughly 79% of the liability to Graves' disease, with the remainder attributable to individual environmental factors [2]. The disorder is polygenic, but several loci contribute meaningfully. The strongest associations lie in the HLA region (particularly HLA-DR3) and in immune-regulatory genes shared across many autoimmune diseases, including CTLA4, PTPN22, CD40, IL2RA, and FCRL3. Thyroid-specific genes such as TSHR (the receptor targeted by the disease-causing antibodies) and thyroglobulin (TG) are also implicated. These genes converge on pathways governing self-tolerance and T-cell and B-cell activation [3].
Environmental Factors: Genetic predisposition interacts with environmental and hormonal triggers. Cigarette smoking is the best-established modifiable factor and is especially strongly linked to Graves' ophthalmopathy [1]. Other associated triggers include psychological stress, high iodine intake, certain infections, and hormonal transitions such as the postpartum period, which may help explain the marked female predominance. Because roughly a fifth of the liability is non-genetic, lifestyle and environmental exposures matter even for people with higher genetic predisposition.
The published research behind your score, and the variants it draws on.
1 published score from 1 study
The graves' disease score combines 1 polygenic score drawn from 1 published study.
Smith TJ, Hegedüs L Graves' Disease. New England Journal of Medicine (2016)
These traits are influenced by some of the same genes and variants as this one
Allergies: The immune system reacting to normally harmless things such as pollen, dust, or foods.
Content updated August 2026.
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