With many female baby boomers reaching the age when Sjögren's syndrome presents, rheumatologists must sharpen their skills to diagnose and manage this second most common autoimmune disease in the United States, said several experts.
“It is not a benign disease, which is a perception that many physicians have,” said Dr. Frederick B. Vivino, director of the Sjögren's syndrome center at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Philadelphia. “It has significant morbidity, and even mortality, when people develop internal organ manifestations or complications like lymphomas.”
Dr. Arthur Weinstein, director of the section of rheumatology at the Washington Hospital Center, said that among internists and family physicians, Sjögren's syndrome (SS) is “grossly underrecognized.”
http://www.rheumatologynews.com/article/S1541-9800(08)70095-4/fulltext
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