World Sjogren’s Day 23 July 2023 - History, Importance and Awareness

World Sjögren's Day is a global healthcare event observed on the 23rd of July every year since 2010, commemorating the awareness of Sjögren's disease. On this day, various local communities and global organisations gather around with an intent to emphasise the necessity of awareness and advocacy about the health care, education, and research of Sjögren's disease and its impact on the crores of patients worldwide.

Sjögren's syndrome is a long-term autoimmune illness in which the immune system targets the glands that produce moisture in regions such as the eyes, mouth, and other parts of the body. Xeropthalmia (dry eyes) and xerostomia (dry mouth) are the most common symptoms, but other regions of the body may be affected as well citing other symptoms, with many people reporting weariness and joint and muscle discomfort. Furthermore, the condition can harm the lungs, kidneys, and brain system. 

Women are disproportionately affected by Sjögren's syndrome. It can be either a single event or be associated with other autoimmune conditions such as systemic lupus erythematosus or rheumatoid arthritis etc.

There is no cure for Sjögren’s syndrome, but it can be managed through several ways. 

History of World Sjogren’s Day

The Sjögren's Foundation created the World Sjögren's Day in 2010 to raise the awareness for Sjögren's syndrome. The Sjögren's Foundation was the brainchild of Elaine Harris who was a frustrated patient of Sjögren's herself and established the Foundation in 1983 to improve the diagnosis, education, and research for Sjögren’s syndrome.

The 23rd of July is the birthday of the Swedish ophthalmologist Dr. Henrik Sjögren, who discovered Sjögren’s syndrome in 1933. The same day was selected to commemorate the World Sjögren's Day in advocating the education, and research of Sjögren's disease and its impact on the patients worldwide. 

The mission and core values of the Sjogren's Foundation have remained unchanged for more than 35 years, expanding its outreach and significantly increasing the public awareness of this complex disease. A few of the accomplishments of the Sjogren's Foundation include: 

• Approvals of drugs by the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA)
• Identification of Biomarkers in Sjögren’s syndrome
• Periodic generation of scientific literature discussing Sjögren’s (newsletters etc)
• Publication of clinical practice guidelines 

Spreading the awareness through #ThisIsSjögrens

The Sjögren's Foundation spreads the awareness of the condition by giving a call to encourage the patients suffering with Sjögren's syndrome to share their stories with the people who they encounter in their lives, especially through social media utilising the hashtag #ThisIsSjögrens. Since the condition is little known, it is often misunderstood by the medical fraternity.

Since the causes of Sjögren’s syndrome or other autoimmune diseases are little understood, there are fewer chances of prevention or even what the tips to prevent it. 

Importance of World Sjögren's Day

Considering the duration of time, it takes for the diagnosing the Sjögren’s syndrome and a dearth of universal clinical guidelines through which the physicians treat the syndrome, the significance of World Sjögren's day is understood.

As such this isn’t a single test to confirm a diagnosis of Sjögren's, the diagnosis of the systemic syndrome proves difficult, especially if the healthcare team fails to observe the connection of glandular dysfunction in the body. Investigation of the symptoms and conducting a series of tests which may go over a couple of years, the diagnosis could be obtained.

Once diagnosed, the treatment is initiated, but it usually differs from patient to patient. This systemic syndrome affects the entire body by either worsening the symptoms or keeping them constant. Since there is no single predictive disease progression, the treatment could be challenging for both physicians and their patients.

With the spread of disease awareness through World Sjögren's Day, and other such similar events, the doctors and patients understand the gravity of the disease, thus raising awareness about the condition, which aids the physician in reducing the duration of diagnosis.

The diagnostic procedures which the healthcare team necessarily performs to confirm Sjögren syndrome include: 

• Blood Tests
• SS-A (or Ro) and SS-B (or La) to find the antibodies for Sjögren syndrome. 
• Eye Tests
• Schirmer test to measure the tear production.
• Rose Bengal and Lissamine Green dyes to examine the surface of the eyes for dry spots.
• Dental Tests
• Measurement of salivary flow. 
• Salivary Gland Biopsy 

Department of General Medicine