Graves' disease easily overlooked in kids and teens

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Plummeting grades, weight change, trouble focusing: It might be easy to blame your teen's behavior on the changes in adolescence. Your family doctor might suspect attention deficit disorder. But Graves' disease, a condition where the thyroid works overtime, can easily be overlooked in kids and teens.

"It's kind of a thyroid gland that's gone rogue," said Andrew J. Bauer, MD, Director of the Thyroid Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

Doctors say an elevated heart rate and skin that is moist to the touch are also symptoms of Graves' disease. While most think of Graves ' disease as an adult condition, one in 10,000 kids will be diagnosed or about 8,500 cases every year.

Watch Health Specialist Denise Dador's report in the video above.