Hashimoto's disease (chronic thyroiditis)

Chronic thyroiditis (Hashimoto's disease) is a slowly developing persistent inflammation of the thyroid, which frequently leads to hypothyroidism, a decreased function of the thyroid gland. Middle-aged women are most commonly affected.

Review Date: 08/17/2010
Reviewed By: Harvey Simon, MD, Editor-in-Chief, Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Physician, Massachusetts General Hospital.

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