Syndrome, sicca
An autoimmune diseases, also known as Sjogren syndrome, that classically combines dry eyes, dry mouth, and another disease of the connective tissues such as rheumatoid arthritis (most common), lupus, scleroderma or polymyositis.
There is a great preponderance of females. About 90% of Sjogren syndrome patients are female, usually in middle age or older.
Sjogren syndrome is an inflammatory disease of glands and other tissues of the body. Inflammation of the glands that produce tears (the lacrimal glands) leads to decreased tears and dry eyes. Inflammation of the glands that produce the saliva in the mouth (salivary glands, including the parotid glands) leads to dry mouth. The syndrome can consequently be complicated by infections of the eyes, breathing passages, and mouth.
Sjogren syndrome is typically associated with antibodies, antibodies produced by the body that are directed against a variety of body tissues (autoantibodies). The diagnosis of the syndrome can also be aided by a biopsy of an affected gland.
The treatment of Sjogren syndrome is directed toward the particular areas of the body that are involved by the disease and the complications such as infection.
The term “sicca” refers to the dryness of the eyes and mouth. The syndrome is named after the Swedish ophthalmologist Henrik Samuel Conrad Sjogren (1899-1986) who, after seeing a woman of middle age with the disease, collected 19 such cases and in his doctoral thesis in 1933 delineated the syndrome. Sjogren’s thesis was not considered of sufficient importance to earn him the title of “docent”, denying him a career in academic medicine. The syndrome he discovered nonetheless came to be accepted around the world.
Read Also:
- Syndrome, sick sinus
Symptoms of dizziness, confusion, fainting, and heart failure due to a problem with the sinus node of the heart, which acts as the body’s natural pacemaker. If the sinus node is not functioning normally, it is reflected in an abnormally slow heart rate (bradycardia). This can cause poor pumping by the heart, which can impair […]
- Syndrome, Sjogren-Larsson
NAD+ oxidoreductase deficiency (FAO deficiency); fatty aldehyde dehydrogenase deficiency (FALDH deficiency); or fatty aldehyde dehydrogenase 10 deficiency (FALDH10 deficiency). `
- Syndrome, Stein-Leventhal
Irregular or no periods Acne Obesity, and Excess hair growth. All women with PCO have irregular or no menses. Women with PCO do not ovulate (do not release an egg every month). Women with PCO are at a higher risk for high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, and uterine (endometrial) cancer. Much of this risk […]
- Syndrome, stiff baby
A genetic disorder also known as hyperekplexia in which babies have an exaggerated startle reflex (reaction). This disorder was not recognized until 1962 when it was described by Drs. Kok and Bruyn as a disease with the onset at birth of hypertonia (stiffness), exaggerated startle response, strong brain-stem reflexes (especially head-retraction reflex) and, in some […]
- Syndrome, superior vena cava
The symptoms that result from compression of the large vein that carries blood down to the heart. The superior vena cava is a large vein that transmits blood from the upper body back to the heart. The superior vena cava is located in the middle of the chest and is surrounded by rigid structures and […]