[Method of medical treatment for Graves' disease based on evidence based medicine]

The Japan Thyroid Association has recently published the guideline for the treatment of Graves' disease with antithyroid drugs (ATD). According this guideline, "the best method of medical treatment for Graves' disease" is described here. The topics in this article include the following: the selection of ATD (Which is better, methimazole or propylthiouracil?), the suitable starting dosage of ATD (Is methimazole 15 mg daily equally effective as 30 mg daily?), the way of decreasing ATD (Is the titlation method to decrease the dosage of ATD suitable?), the duration of the ATD treatment (How long should the ATD treatment be continued?), the relation to smoking (Should smoking be prohibited for patients with Graves' disease?) and the restriction of iodine (Should patients restrict dietary iodine intake?).