Sjögren’s syndrome | Arthritis Information

Good article from Jane Brody of the New York Times talking about Sjögren’s syndrome.

Diagnosis can be difficult because symptoms vary widely from patient to patient, and many of those symptoms mimic those of a host of other conditions.

As a result, “this major women’s health problem is still largely underdiagnosed and undertreated,” said Dr. Frederick Vivino, a rheumatologist at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center and director of the Penn Sjögren’s Syndrome Center in Philadelphia.

But Dr. Vivino said in an interview that there had been “a dramatic change” in the diagnosis and management of Sjögren’s in the last 5 to 10 years. Although it was originally listed in the National Organization for Rare Disorders registry, recent population studies in the United States and in Britain have documented Sjögren’s as the second-most common autoimmune rheumatic disease, behind rheumatoid arthritis.

The disorder was first described in 1892 in a 42-year-old man and called Mikulicz’s syndrome. But the diagnosis fell into disuse because it seemed to encompass so many conditions. The syndrome was resurrected in 1933 by Henrik Sjögren, a Swedish ophthalmologist, who described 19 women suffering from dry mouth and dry eyes, the most common symptoms of the disorder.