SJOGREN'S SYNDROME

                         

SJOGREN'S SYNDROME

Eyes are the most important sense Organs. Eyes make us capable to enjoy the beauty of this beautiful world. So it's our responsibility to take care of our Eyes.

One such syndrome related to the eyes is Sjogren's Syndrome.

Sjogren’s pronounced as ‘SHOW Grins‘ syndrome is an autoimmune disease. Autoimmune disease refers to disorder in our own immune system doesn’t recognize our own body tissue and endogenous compound and treat it as an antigen and obviously if it is treating like antigen, it will try to kill or neutralize it and eliminate it from the body .This  is very unfortunate with the autoimmune disease and make them difficult and almost impossible to treat. That is the reason Clinicians can just provide symptomatic relief in most of the autoimmune disorders and can’t provide the cure or complete treatment.

Sjogren’s syndrome was named after the Swedish physician Dr.Henrik Sjogren who first identified this disease in 1933. Major symptoms involve dryness of the eyes and mouth. It also leads to dryness of other organs like the liver, kidney, etc. Along with it patients feel fatigued and exhausted leading to permanent impairment and affect their quality of life. Quality of life is an individual’s perception of life consisting of four domains: physical, social, mental, and economic. As it leads to tooth decay, difficulty in speaking, swallowing, persistent dry cough, etc. If symptoms of Sjogren’s syndrome appear along with another Autoimmune

disease like SLE(Systemic Lupus Erythematosus) or Rheumatoid Arthritis. It is known as secondary Sjogren’s Syndrome.

Etiology of Sjogren’s Syndrome is still a mystery for scientists that why only a few people develop this syndrome. It has been postulated to be associated with genetics like if a person develops this syndrome chances of his or her relative getting the syndrome are enhanced. Research finding also adds that to develop such syndrome immune system also need to be activated or stimulated by some bacterial or viral infection. Studies indicated that females are more prone to it compared to males.
Treatment aims at providing relief from the symptoms :
1.Dry eye: Ocular lubricants eye drops, Autologous serum for severe cases
2.Dry Mouth: Secretagogues like Pilocarpine increase saliva
3.Dry throat: Medication which increases moisture like sorbitol etc
4.Joint Pain: NSAID’s (Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory drugs)& DMARD(Disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs) etc.

 

Deepti M Sati