Sjogren: Laarson’s Syndrome Essay, Research Paper

HISTORY.

The disease, Sjogren or Laarson syndrome was discovered by a Swedish eye

doctor named Henrik Sjogren who discovered the disease with a group of scientists. Not

very much is told about this discovery but there are many things we know of the disease

today because of our great technology. When found, Sjogren was told to be an incurable

disease which attacks humans an confuse moisture resulting in many different

problems, basically dryness in areas of the body.

These symptoms/problems strike two to four million Americans each year, about

ninety percent of them women. Most of the infected people also go undiagnosed

because they are not aware of the seriousness of the disease. Also, there are two types

of this syndrome: primary which is much more serious and secondary of which 50

percent of infected people are known to have.

CAUSES.

The cause of this disease is the body s error in thinking that the moisture of the

body is foreign invaders resulting in the destruction of the moisture glands. These

glands are the glands that produce all of the moisture for our bodies. This is what

causes the primary dryness in many areas of the body which is basically what the

disease is.

SYMPTOMS.

There are many different symptoms which occur in Sjogren. Most of these are: dryness in the areas of the eyes, skin, nose, ears, throat/voice, mouth. Also fatigue, digestive problems, muscle problems, and anesthesia are know to occur through out.

When Sjrogen s occurs in the eyes, the infected person s eyes will have the feeling that

there is something in their eyes such as sand when there actually is not. They will be

forced to cope with blurry vision and/or constant eye discomfort.

When Sjogren s occurs in the skin, the skin becomes very dry and noticeable

especially to the patient. When this occurs, it often leads to itching in which skin color

can increase and bruising can occur. This bruising and scratching is considered to be

age spots and is known to occur in older patients because of the thinness in their skin.

These symptoms also occur in the nose and ears except that noises and hearing

problems can occur as well as the dryness on the inside of the nose.

In the mouth, voice, and throat, without the use of saliva for our mouths, and

throats serious problems can occur and often oral help is needed and is considered

expensive. The voice can turn hoarse and rough and can be lost in some cases. The

larynx and other areas of the mouth should be examined.

TREATMENT.

Sjogren s unfortunately is an incurable disease but it has treatments which can

ease the discomfort of the patient. When the disease has started and is not very serious

for dry eye patients, preserved artificial tears can be added to the eyes and used about

four or five times a day. For the more serious, non-preserved tears can be added more

than four or five times a day.

Also, ointments that can be put on at bedtime can be used and last till waking up. For home use, the patient can wear goggles (i.e.. ski or swim goggles) which hold in the

moisture for the eyes. Finally, implants can be placed to block the tear drainage ducts to

hold in the moisture also.

Abstract.

Sjogren s syndrome is a very painful disease for the unfortunate people infected

with it. It attacks the body and causes dryness to many areas of the body. It also can

attack the vital organs of the body and cause a lot of damage. The disease is

auto-immune and incurable yet it can only be treated. Many people are forced to cope

with the many painful aspects of it and can be left with poor vision and other awful

things. It is known to attack women over men and is shown through the statistics that

ninety percent of the patients are women. Sjogren s also is known to have two to four

million victims in the U.S. today. Henrik Sjogren made a very important discovery for the

medical world. Though, the two to four million might not have known that they had this

disease, the other infected people also would not know who go undiagnosed because

there would be no testing/diagnosis.

Extras.

A true story.

-Twelve years ago my wife first started experiencing outbreaks of vasculitic rash on her

legs, especially after long walks in the heat of the summer. After a long and rather

frustrating work-up, we found a rheumatologist who pieced together the parts of the

puzzle and made the diagnosis of Primary Sjogren s Syndrome.

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