Happy World Sjögren’s Day! Every year on July 23rd, we honor Dr. Henrik Sjögren and raise awareness for Sjögren’s syndrome.
For a little background, Henrik Sjögren was a Swedish ophthalmologist. At 30 years old, he encountered a 49-year-old woman who had arthritis, but her visit to him that day had little to do with her arthritis — it was about excessive dryness of the mouth and eyes. When Sjögren was presenting his doctoral thesis, he talked in detail about 19 patients he had seen who were between the ages of 29–72 and all had experienced dry eyes and mouths. The initial reception of his thesis was not entirely positive. The Board of Examiners criticized certain aspects of the clinical study, resulting in a mediocre grade that impacted Sjögren’s academic career aspirations. Despite the initial criticism, the importance of Sjögren’s work eventually gained recognition, particularly after an English translation of his thesis in 1943. His research on these patients led to a new understanding of Sjögren’s syndrome — a chronic autoimmune disease that attacks the moisture-producing glands, mainly in the eyes and mouth, causing extreme dryness that primarily affects women over the age of 40.
Sjögren’s syndrome usually appears in conjunction with other immune system disorders like lupus and arthritis, but doctors are not entirely sure why some people develop the syndrome. They know that certain genes put individuals at a higher risk, but it seems like there needs to be a triggering mechanism, like an infection that contains a particular strain of bacteria, to set it off. This causes the syndrome to be highly elusive, making it much harder to diagnose.
Sadly, Sjögren’s syndrome can easily fly below the radar due to its common symptoms like:
• Dry Eyes: Burning, itching, gritty feeling, blurry vision, sensitivity to light.
• Dry Mouth: Difficulty swallowing, speaking, and eating; increased risk of cavities and infections.
• Other Dryness: Dry skin, nasal passages, and throat.
• Fatigue and Joint Pain: These are also common symptoms.
• Organ Involvement: Some patients may experience lung issues, kidney problems, nerve dysfunction, or vasculitis.
These symptoms often overlap with other, more common, conditions, making it hard to correctly diagnose. Misdiagnosis is another issue since there is not one specific test available. For an accurate diagnosis to be given, patients must have symptoms, go through blood tests that look for two specific antibodies (anti-Ro (SS-A) and anti-La (SS-B)) which help doctors notice the degree of seriousness, and in some extreme cases, undergo gland biopsies. This process is necessary because dryness is a common symptom of many other conditions like other autoimmune diseases (such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and scleroderma) as well as fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome.
Just like the lack of accurate diagnosis, there is also no singular cure, but there are treatments that can make the syndrome more manageable. Eye drops, artificial saliva, medication, and lifestyle changes are the main ways those diagnosed with Sjögren’s syndrome make symptoms bearable. But with this diagnosis, complications may arise as well. The lack of moisture in the eyes, mouth, and other areas makes individuals more susceptible to infections. The reduction in saliva increases the risk of cavities, gum disease, and tooth loss. In more severe cases of Sjögren’s, lung and kidney issues may arise, and organ damage can occur. Lastly, lymphoma — a blood cancer — has a higher chance of developing.
Portrait of Henrik Sjögren
Today, on his birthday, we celebrate the wonderful achievements of Henrik Sjögren and raise awareness for those Sjögren cannot physically be there to help. His identification of the syndrome has helped 1 million people get diagnosed, but the misdiagnoses and under-representation of the syndrome leave an estimated 3 million with an incorrect diagnosis or no diagnosis at all. Help represent Sjögren’s syndrome and help someone finally be able to diagnose symptoms they may have been wondering about all along!
