Sjögren's syndrome

Sjögren's syndrome or Sjögren syndrome (pronounced /ˈʃoʊɡrᵻn/ or /ˈʃɜːrɡrɛn/ in English, the latter to approximate the Swedish pronunciation [ˈɧøːɡreːn]) is a chronic autoimmune disease in which the body's white blood cells destroy the exocrine glands, specifically the salivary and lacrimal glands, that produce saliva and tears, respectively. The immune-mediated attack on the salivary and lacrimal glands leads to the development of xerostomia (dry mouth) and keratoconjunctivitis sicca (dry eyes), which takes place in association with lymphocytic infiltration of the glands.<ref name=borchers /?. That inflammatory process eventually severely damages or destroys the glands.

Sjögren’s syndrome is usually classified as either 'primary' or 'secondary'. Primary Sjögren’s syndrome occurs by itself and secondary Sjögren’s syndrome occurs when another connective tissue disease is present. However, this classification does not always correlate with the severity of symptoms or complications. Primary and secondary Sjögren’s syndrome patients can all experience the same level of discomfort, complications, and seriousness of their disease.