The eyes are dry, foreign body sensation, and few tears. In severe cases, repeated suppurative infections in the eyelid margins, conjunctivitis , and keratitis . Is this dry eye disease? Not that simple! Wang Hongxia, director of the ophthalmology department of Shanghai Guanghua Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine Hospital, reminded: If the above symptoms occur, they are accompanied by symptoms such as dry mouth , fatigue, muscle soreness throughout the body, and joint pain , it may be caused by Sjogren's syndrome .
Aunt Zhu is 62 years old this year and has a history of rheumatoid arthritis for more than 30 years, but she has been taking medicine and maintaining it well.
But not long ago, Aunt Zhu's eyes showed symptoms of redness and pain, and her vision also decreased significantly in a short period of time. "After we came to the outpatient clinic, we found that her vision at that time was 0.04 in the right eye and 0.06 in the left eye, which had significantly affected her movements, and there were obvious erosional degeneration and corneal ulcers in both eyes." Wang Hongxia said, "Based on her eye symptoms, complaints and previous history of rheumatoid arthritis, I highly suspect that she suffered from secondary Sjogren's syndrome , and the subsequent examinations also verified my guess."
Wang Hongxia introduced that Sjogren's syndrome is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease, mainly invading the lacrimal glands, salivary glands, exocrine glands, exocrine glands, , etc., which are typical of dry mouth and dry eyes, and can also involve the lungs, kidneys, digestive systems, blood systems, nervous system , etc., causing the body's organs to be involved. Sjogren's syndrome is divided into two categories: primary and secondary. The former refers to , which exists alone and does not accompany other clear diagnosis of connective tissue disease; the latter refers to those who are secondary to rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus , multiple myositis and other autoimmune diseases.
"Many patients have little understanding of the disease of 'Sjögren', and often delay medical treatment. When they are told that they are diagnosed with 'Sjögren', they are often very confused. In fact, sjögren's syndrome is not uncommon, with nearly 10 million patients around the world. The prevalence of Sjögren's syndrome in my country is about 0.3%-0.7%, and the prevalence among the elderly is 3%-4%. This disease is more common, with a male-female ratio of 1:9~1:20. The onset age is mostly between 40 and 50 years old, and it is also seen in children." Wang Hongxia told reporters.
After receiving a series of corresponding eye treatments at Guanghua Hospital , and systemic treatment of immunosuppressant , Aunt Zhu's corneal ulcer was restored, her vision returned to 0.8, and her blood abnormality index was also effectively improved.
Rheumatoid arthritis almost caused blindness. This experience made Aunt Zhu feel scared. At the doctor's advice, she paid more attention to eye discomfort in her life and decided to go to the hospital for regular review.
Wang Hongxia reminds: As a systemic autoimmune disease, "dry" is one of the characteristics of Sjogren's syndrome, and the harm of multiple system involvement is often ignored. If symptoms suspected to be related to Sjogren's syndrome appear, do not take it lightly. Seek medical treatment as soon as possible, treat it scientifically, and control the condition as soon as possible to minimize the negative impact.
"Sjögren's syndrome" common local dryness manifestations:
Sjögren's disease : Due to salivary gland lesions, the lack of salivary mucin, causing dry mouth, rampant dental caries, mumps , tongue pain, secondary infection of the oral mucosa, etc.
Kerokeratosis serpentine: Dry eyes, foreign body sensation, and few tears. In severe cases, cry without tears. Some patients have repeated suppurative infections in the eyelid margin, conjunctivitis, keratitis, etc.
Other superficial parts: such as the nose, hard palate, trachea and its branches, digestive tract mucosa, subclinical pancreatitis, the exocrine glands of dry skin and vaginal mucosa can all be affected, causing them to secrete less and cause corresponding symptoms.
Pictures are from the Internet
Text: Zhao Li
Edited by: Gao Qin
* Please indicate the source when reprinting is from "Shanghai Changning"
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