Abstract
Dry mouth and dry eyes are common symptoms among the elderly, and they are the cardinal features of Sjögren‘s syndrome. In the elderly, both symptoms are often attributed to aging and medications without considering the possibility of underlying disease. Sjögren‘s syndrome is a multisystem exocrinopathy with a broad spectrum of exocrine and nonexocrine involvement; consequently, its initial clinical manifestations may appear unrelated and can be easily overlooked by both patients and healthcare providers. However, complications of Sjögren‘s syndrome can be disabling and compromising for patients’ health and quality of life. Owing to the broad spectrum of systems that are affected by Sjögren‘s syndrome, its management requires a multidisciplinary approach and collaboration between healthcare providers, including primary-care physicians, rheumatologists, ophthalmologists, dentists and often other specialists, to ensure an optimal health outcome. This review provides an overview of Sjögren‘s syndrome with emphasis on clinical manifestations, diagnosis and management in order to minimize potentially life-threatening complications.
Financial & competing interests disclosure
The author has no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.
No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.
Notes
*Although sarcoidosis is included in the exclusion criteria, several reports have demonstrated that sarcoidosis does occur in association with Sjögren‘s syndrome Citation[165].
ANA: Antinuclear antibody; RF: Rheumatoid factor; SS-A: Sjögren‘s syndrome A; SS-B: Sjögren‘s syndrome B.
Adapted from Citation[169,170].
*Salivary substitutes are moisturizers, not a treatment. They are available over-the-counter and can be used as needed; there is no limit for total daily intake. However, products with sorbitol may cause diarrhea, and mint and cinnamon flavors may cause mucosal irritation in patients with dry mouth.
‡Contain citric acid and could potentially cause softening of the teeth.