SJOGRENS SYNDROME

Pronounced as shoh-grinz, it is named after Swedish Ophthalmologist Henrik Sjogren who first
described it.
It is an autoimmune disorder in which immune cells attacks and destroys the exocrine glands which
produces tears & saliva
This causes the mouth and eye to become extremely dry
If the disease is limited to eye alone with no other organ involvement, it is called as Sicca Complex
3 types:
Primary: occurs by itself with no other associated diseases
Secondary: occurs as part of other autoimmune disorders like SLE, RF, Scleroderma, vasculitis etc.
30% of the patients with other AI disorders has SS.

Exact cause of SS is unknown.the suspected causes are:
1. Genentic: because it shows a tendency to run in families
2. Hormonal: The number of female patients is 9 times that of the male patients and the
average age of onset is 40-55 years of age coinciding with the post-menopausal period in
women suggesting that a Hormonal factor may be involved in the etiology of the disease.
3. Viral Factors: immune system may be activated against Viral invasion, but fails to turn off
after the desired period. A group of Greek researchers in 2004, presented evidence that
Coxsackie virus may be the disease organism triggering SS
Problems:
Extreme dryness and stickiness of mouth occurs due to destruction of Parotid glands in the mouth.
Parotid glands lie over jaw bone