Sjogren’s Syndrome – What you should know about

Sjogren’s syndrome

is an auto-immune disease and can sometimes be present with other diseases such as rheumatic disease, lupus or rheumatoid arthritis. In this case, we say that it is a Secondary Sjogren’s syndrome. When you only suffer from Sjogren’s syndrome alone, we qualify it as Primary Sjogren’s.

This disease is a chronic condition but you need to see your doctor because it is a treatable condition. Most of the cases, a patient with Sjogren’s syndrome can live decently and well.

Sjogren’s syndrome can affect anybody at any age. However, we know that women are more likely to be affected by this disease than man. More or less than 2 million Americans are affected by Sjogren’s syndrome. This auto-immune disease is a condition that occurs when the immune system is reacting against its own tissues of the body. This disease brings also inflammatory problems within different parts of the body. Different parts of the body can be affected but in most cases, the tear and salivary glands are affected. This affection will result in severe dry eyes and dry mouth.

It is important to not under-estimate the impact of dry eyes on quality of life. Symptoms could be different from one person to the other but usually the person will experience burning, redness, irritation and a feeling of sand in the eyes. Dry mouth symptoms are not to be taken less seriously. The patient can experience difficulty to swallow, bad breath, dental problems, gengivitis and yeast infection in the mouth.

It is important to understand that having dry eyes or dry mouth doesn’t necessarily mean that you are affected by Sjogren’s syndrome. You can have dry eyes or dry mouth and not having Sjogren’s syndrome. But if you have Sjogren’s, you will certainly have dry eyes and dry mouth. This why it is very important to see  your doctor if you experience these symptoms because he will need to do specialized tests to diagnose the condition. Blood tests are also necessary. Rare complications associated to Sjogren’s disease are also possible such as pain and stiffness in the joints, inflammation in internal organs and neurological problems. This is why you should consult your physician if you think that you can have Sjogren’s or if you experiment thos symptoms with your dry eyes and mouth.

If you have Sjogren’s syndrome and experience dry eyes, you are at the right place to find and buy great dry eyes products that can help you to improve you quality of life such as Moisture chambers or Moisture glasses.