Sjögren's
syndrome was something I'd never heard of before today. It was the
diagnosis in a case for which I was asked to perform a CD4 cell
count. On reflection and investigation I cannot see the relevence of
such a cell count to the case
Sjögren's
syndrome is a chronic autoimmune disease in which the body's white
cells destroy the exocrine glands, specifically the salivary and
lacrimal glands
The
immune-mediated attack on the salivary and lacrimal glands leads to
the development of dry mouth (xerostomia) and dry eyes
(keratoconjunctivitis sicca), together with lymphocytic infiltration
of the associated glands.
That
inflammatory process eventually severely damages or destroys these
glands.
There
are two types of Sjögren's syndrome, primary or secondary form.
Primary
Sjögren’s syndrome presents alone, in the absence of other
autoimmune or connective tissue disorders and only impacts the
salivary and lacrimal glands.
Secondary
Sjogren’s syndrome presents along with other autoimmune or
connective tissue disorders, such as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic
lupus erythematosus or other autoimmune conditions.
Most
of the population, as well as many medical providers, know little or
nothing about Sjogren's syndrome. Despitre being the second most
common form of arthritis, the average time to diagnosis of the
syndrome is now 4.7 years
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sj%C3%B6gren%27s_syndrome
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