Hashimoto's disease is an autoimmune thyroid disorder, characterized by the production of antibodies in response to thyroid antigens (antibody producing) and the replacement of normal thyroid structures with lymphocytes and lymphoid germinal centers.

Chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis, or Hashimoto's thyroiditis, was first described by the Japanese physician Hashimoto in 1912.

This disease shows a marked hereditary pattern but it is 20 times more common in women than in men. It occurs most...