Health

World Sjogren’s Day 2023: Date, History, Facts about Sjogren’s Syndrome

Jan Mikulicz-Radecki is attributed with first describing Sjogren's Syndrome. In 1892, he described a 42-year-old male with parotid and lacrimal gland enlargement, round-cell infiltration, and acinar atrophy.

World Sjogren’s Day occurs annually on July 23. On this day, the Sjogren’s Foundation and other organisations combine forces to raise awareness of this disease, educate people about its symptoms and treatment, and raise funds for research. Sjogren’s syndrome is an immune system disorder that attacks the cells that generate saliva and tears, as well as the thyroid, kidneys, liver, lungs, and nerves. The syndrome’s two primary symptoms are dry eyes and mouth. Various other symptoms include joint pain, skin rashes, vaginal dryness, a persistent dry cough, enlarged salivary glands, poor dental health, excessive thirst, and protracted fatigue.

The background of World Sjogren’s Day

Jan Mikulicz-Radecki is attributed with first describing Sjogren’s Syndrome. In 1892, he described a 42-year-old male with parotid and lacrimal gland enlargement, round-cell infiltration, and acinar atrophy. However, these criteria frequently led to confusion with Mikulicz’s syndrome. Nonetheless, this term is occasionally used to characterise the appearance of lymphocytic infiltrates on biopsies of salivary glands.

Born on July 23, 1899, in Koping, Sweden, Henrik Sjogren graduated from the Karolinska Institute of Medicine in 1927. Dr. Sjogren encountered a patient in 1929 who complained of dry eyes, a dry mouth, and joint discomfort. Despite the fact that many of these symptoms were already well-known, he found their combination peculiar and decided to investigate. In 1933, he published his doctoral thesis describing clinical and pathological manifestations of the syndrome in 19 females, the majority of whom were postmenopausal and had arthritis. Initially, the Board of Examiners criticised some clinical aspects of his dissertation.

Sjogren published an important paper in 1951 detailing 80 patients with dry eyes, 50 of whom also had arthritis, as a result of extensive research and data compilation. He termed the condition keratoconjunctivitis sicca, and it later became known as Sjogren’s Syndrome. Nowadays, the medical term ‘keratoconjunctivitis sicca’ is used to describe dried eyes. The Sjogren Foundation was founded in 1983 by Elaine Harris. She was a Sjogren’s syndrome patient who was frustrated by the length of time it took to identify her symptoms and the absence of information.

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5 IMPORTANT FACTS ABOUT SJOGREN’S SYNDROME

Venus Williams and Olympic gold medalist Shannon Boxx are two notable individuals who suffer from Sjogren’s syndrome.

Sjogren’s syndrome affects ten times more females than males.

Although Sjogren’s syndrome is most commonly diagnosed in middle-aged or postmenopausal women, it can affect individuals of any age, including children, though younger Sjogren’s syndrome patients typically present differently than adults.

Patients with Sjogren’s syndrome without a major autoimmune connective tissue disorder number between 400,000 and 3.1 million adults, and the prevalence is doubled when other related diseases are considered.

The symptoms can be alleviated with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, corticosteroids, hydroxychloroquine, and other immune-suppressing medications, as well as dehydration treatments.