What organs does Sjögren's affect?

While many patients experience dry eyes, dry mouth, fatigue and joint pain, Sjögren's can also cause dysfunction of organs such as the kidneys, gastrointestinal system, blood vessels, lungs, liver, pancreas, and the central nervous system. Patients also have a higher chance of developing lymphoma.

What organs are affected by Sjögren's syndrome?

Sjögren's syndrome can also affect other body organ systems. These organs include the skin, joints, muscles, blood, lung, heart, kidney, and nerves.

Is Sjogren's syndrome an organ specific or a systemic autoimmune disease?

Sjögren's syndrome (SS) is a systemic autoimmune disease in which immune-mediated inflammation causes secretory gland dysfunction, leading to dryness of the main mucosal surfaces and systemic organ involvement.

What tissue does Sjogren's syndrome affect?

In Sjögren syndrome, the immune system primarily attacks the glands that produce tears (the lacrimal glands) and saliva (the salivary glands), impairing the glands' ability to secrete these fluids.

What glands are affected by sjogrens?

In Sjögren's syndrome, the parts of the body usually affected are the tear, saliva and vaginal glands, which are collectively known as the exocrine glands. The antibodies damage the exocrine glands so they can no longer function normally.

Sjögren’s Syndrome in Relation to Central Nervous System Disorders

Can Sjogren's affect the bladder?

If you have Sjogren's syndrome, you are also more likely to have a condition called painful bladder syndrome, or interstitial cystitis. This condition causes signs and symptoms similar to those of a urinary tract infection — urinary frequency, urgency and pain — without evidence of infection.

Can sjogrens affect your stomach?

Gastroparesis (delayed gastric emptying) occurs in Sjögren's (30-70%), and, similar to Diabetes, causes upper abdominal pain/fullness/nausea. Gastric parietal cells can be destroyed leading to B12 deficiency.

How does Sjogren's affect internal organs?

You may experience dryness in your nose or throat or on your skin. Sjögren's syndrome can also affect the joints, lungs, kidneys, blood vessels, digestive organs and nerves, causing symptoms such as: Swollen glands, specifically behind the jaw and in front of the ears. Joint pain, swelling or stiffness.

What does Sjogren's do to the lungs?

Sjögren's syndrome can sometimes affect the lungs and cause problems such as: lung infections. widening of the airways in the lungs (bronchiectasis) scarring of the lungs.

Does having Sjogren's mean you are immunocompromised?

As a note – not all Sjögren's patients have compromised immune systems. This specific risk factor is for those who regularly take drugs to suppress the immune system.

What should I avoid with Sjogren's syndrome?

Individuals who experience severe xerostomia tend to avoid crunchy foods such as raw vegetables, dry or tough foods such as meats and breads, and sticky foods such as peanut butter. Xerostomia can also affect dental health.

What does Sjögren's fatigue feel like?

Sjogren's Syndrome patients often complain of mental fatigue or “brain fog.” Brain fog impairs focus, causes fuzzy concentration, and contributes to difficulty in problem-solving.

What are the stages of Sjögren's syndrome?

We divided SS patients into three stages: stage I is glandular SS, stage II is extraglandular SS, and stage III is extraglandular SS with lymphoid malignancy. The lymphoaggressive nature of the disease appears to lead SS patients from stage I to II and from stage II to III.

How does Sjogren's affect the kidneys?

Sjögren's syndrome is typically associated with a lymphocytic and plasmacytic infiltrate in the salivary, parotid, and lacrimal glands, leading to a sicca syndrome. This immune process can also affect nonexocrine organs, including the kidneys, producing an interstitial nephritis and defects in tubular function.

How severe can Sjogren's get?

Sjogren's comes with serious complications if left untreated, including: an increased risk of lymphoma and multiple myeloma. oral yeast infections. dental cavities.

What drugs make sjogrens worse?

Avoid medicines that are known to cause dry eyes. These include antihistamines, diuretics, and some antidepressants. Talk with your doctor if you take any of these medicines. Sometimes the benefits of a medicine outweigh the risks.

Does Sjogren's affect the liver?

Sjogren syndrome (SS) is an autoimmune disease that affects exocrine glands and therefore may affect the gastrointestinal system, from the mouth, esophagus, and bowel to the liver and pancreas.

Can sjogrens make it hard to breathe?

Symptoms of Sjögren's syndrome with ILD may include: Feeling very tired when going about your normal day. Shortness of breath, especially with mild physical activity. Dry cough that doesn't go away.

Can Sjogren's affect the heart?

Many studies show high cardiovascular risk in rheumatologic diseases and, recently, new data have revealed that patients with Sjogren's syndrome have a significantly higher risk for heart attack and stroke than general population.

Can Sjogren's syndrome affect the pancreas?

This is the first nationwide population-based cohort study that demonstrated the patients with Sjogren's syndrome increase the risk of acute pancreatitis.

What mimics Sjogren's syndrome?

Certain diseases affecting salivary and lacrimal glands such as sarcoidosis, IgG4-related disease, chronic hepatitis C virus, HIV infections, and graft-versus-host disease can mimic Sjögren's syndrome, usually via a process of similar inflammation of affected glands.

Can Sjogren's cause hip pain?

Tenderness and swelling of the joints, when present, are indicative of inflammatory arthritis. In Sjögren's syndrome, this type of arthritis usually affects the fingers, wrists and ankles. The shoulders, hips and knees may also be painful.

How does Sjogren's affect the intestines?

Gastrointestinal disease in SS may occur in one quarter of the patients and include dysphagia, gastritis, motility disorders, pancreatitis, pancreatic insufficiency, pernicious anemia, autoimmune hepatitis and symptoms consistent with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), abdominal pain, diarrhea, constipation, bloating, ...

Does Sjögren's affect the esophagus?

As in Sjögren's syndrome, the upper one-third of the oesophagus is mainly affected [28], whilst the LOS is relatively spared compared with the other autoimmune rheumatic diseases [1]. The most specific disorder is an isolated abnormal peristalsis of the body of the oesophagus [1].

How does Sjögren's affect the digestive tract?

Patients with Sjögren syndrome are at increased risk for delayed gastric emptying, which can cause early satiety, upper abdominal discomfort, nausea, and vomiting.