Sjögren’s syndrome is a chronic autoimmune disease in which people’s white blood cells attack their moisture-producing glands. As many as 4,000,000 Americans live with this serious disease, which ranks as the second most common connective tissue, autoimmune disorder. Sjögren’s syndrome represents a major women’s health problem (90% of sufferers are female) that is still largely under diagnosed and under treated by the medical community. Sjögren’s syndrome also affects men and children.

Hallmark symptoms are dry eyes and dry mouth that can result in pain, increased infection, and difficulty with eyesight, chewing and swallowing. Patients can lose their teeth to decay, chipping and cracking. Sjögren’s not only causes dryness throughout the body, but it can affect any body organ or system, including the muscles, joints, nerves, vascular system, brain, ears, nose, throat, skin, lungs, liver, pancreas, the gastrointestinal tract, and vascular, urinary, and reproductive systems. Fatigue, sleeping disorders and brain fog are also common. It can lead to lymphoma and cause fetal heart block in babies born to mothers with Sjögren’s. Symptoms may remain steady, worsen, or, uncommonly, go into remission. While some people experience mild discomfort, others suffer debilitating symptoms that greatly impair their functioning.

Treatment primarily is palliative through moisture replacement with the use of eye drops and ointments and oral lubricants. Two prescription drugs for dry mouth in Sjögren’s and one for dry eye have been approved by the FDA in the last decade, but no medications are FDA-approved for the systemic manifestations of Sjögren’s. However, hope is on the horizon with new classes of drugs that modulate the immune system, and the recent discovery of the human genome and its sequencing is opening up possibilities for greater understanding and potential treatment for Sjögren’s. While one gene does not cause Sjögren’s, multiple genes most likely contribute to a susceptibility for developing the disease upon exposure to an unknown environmental trigger.

The Foundation:

• spends over $400,000 annually for research initiatives.
• oversees 80+ support groups throughout the United States and Canada.
• conducts professional awareness initiatives and conferences to increase physicians’, nurses’ and other healthcare professionals’ knowledge of Sjögren’s syndrome.
• expands general awareness of Sjögren’s syndrome by partnering with national and local media outlets.
• manages three patient seminars a year for patients and their families
• serves as the lead organization for Sjögren’s syndrome groups worldwide.

The Foundation’s mission is to:

• Educate patients and their families about Sjögren’s syndrome.
• Increase public and professional awareness of Sjögren’s syndrome. 
• Encourage research into new treatments and a cure.

Visit www.sjogrens.org or call 1-800-475-6473 to learn more.