Sjogren's Syndrome is a fairly new autoimmune disorder, includes signs, symptoms and treatments.
What is Sjogren's Syndrome?
Sjogren's(pronounced show-grins)Syndrome is a chronic, autioimmune disorder in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks its own moisture producing glands.
An estimated 4 million Americans with Sjogren's Syndrome, go undiagnosed for years. Nine out of ten people who suffer with this syndrome are women of menopausal age or older, although many younger women and men also have Sjogren's Syndrome.
What Are The Symptoms?
The classic symptoms of this disease are dry mouth and/or dry eyes. Sjogren's can also cause dryness of the skin, nose, and vagina and can affect other organs of the body. These other organs sometimes include, kidneys, blood vessels, lungs, liver, pancreas and the brain. Debilitating fatigue and joint pain can impair the quality of life.
Symptoms of Sjogren's Syndrome are many. No two people with this syndrome have exactly the same set of symptoms or medical history. The following are some questions that you can answer to see if you should be tested for this syndrome.
1. Do you have dry, gritty, burning sensation in your eyes?
2. Do you have difficulty swallowing food? Do you have to drink water frequently while talking?
3. Are you often hoarse?
4. Do you have a sore of cracked mouth or tongue?
5. Have you had a sudden increase in dental cavities?
6. Do you feel tired all the time? Does it impact your quality of life?
How to Diagnose Sjogren's Syndrome
Diagnosis of Sjogren's Syndrome is difficult because the symptoms often mimic other diseases such as lupus, chronic fatigue syndrome, arthritis, multiple sclerosis and fibromyalgia. After the initial diagnosis of Sjogren's Syndrome patients are are normally sent either to an opthamologist, if they are suffering from dry eyes, or to a dentist or oral pathologist if they are suffering from dry mouth, which was what my mother was having problems with. These doctors can provide specialized testing in these two areas to decide the course of treatment for your disease. A lip biopsy, blood test and a test to measure tear production are three ways in which doctors can find out at what stage you are in the disease and how best to treat your symptoms.
How Do You Treat Sjogren's Syndrome?
There is no cure for Sjogren's Syndrome, but early detection can affect the course of this disease. This syndrome is not life threatening but is definitely life changing. Over the counter moisture replacements or prescription moisture replacement is very helpful in the treating of the symptoms of this syndrome. There are only two drugs currently available to treat the dry mouth associated with this disease. Salagen and Evovax can successfully treat some people's symptoms while having little if any effect on others.
The cause for those affected by this disease is not clear. But research is going on daily to not only help those diagnosed, but also to help make this syndrome easier to detect.
My Personal Connection To Sjogren's Syndrome
The reason for my interest in this disease and why I have done the research to find out more about Sjogren's Syndrome is because of my mother. My mother suffered almost 3 years before being diganosed by a rheumotologist with this syndrome. She started out with her skin breaking out and was diagnosed with Lupus, by a dermatologist. The treatment by the dermatologist had little affect on her. The pain in her hips got worse; her family doctor referred her to a rheumotologist at Baylor Hospital in Dallas, Texas who finally made the diagnosis.
My mother deals with Sjogren's Syndrome daily and it has dramatically changed her life. Her main complaint at first was fatigue and pain in her hips. She now has severe dry mouth. She must constantly drink water; there are days when she is so hoarse from no saliva that she can barely speak. She must usually rest an extra 2 to 3 hours per day more than normal.
My mother and I found that the medical community as a whole does not have a great amount of knowledge about this syndrome. With the research that is being done at Baylor and many other hospitals across the country, steps are being taken to inform doctors about this syndrome.
To date there is no medicine that can treat all of my mother's symptoms. Her biggest problem now is her dry mouth. She has recently been accepted into a research study, at Baylor Dental College in Dallas, Texas, which is testing a new medicine for help with dry mouth. The drug companies are hoping to have a product on the market soon which will have little or no side effects to help with this problem.
Sjogren's Syndrome has not yet been proven to be hereditary. There are many support groups around the country for people with Sjogren's Syndrome. I recently attended one with my mother and was surprised by the number of men and women there.
If you or someone you know has any of the above symptoms, you could be suffering from Sjogren's Syndrome. Many people are yet undiagnosed.
Dealing with this syndrome is an everyday thing, but my mom has "taken the bull by the horns" and is doing all she can to take care of herself. My mission is to get the word out that this Sjogren's Syndrome exists. I hope by making people more aware of this disease that we can find funding for more research and someday perhaps a cure.
For more detailed information on Sjogren's Syndrome visit their website at http://www.sjogrens.com.
**Most of the information for this article is taken from a pamphlet available from the Sjogren's Syndrome Foundation.
