Fact of the week: Sjogren's syndrome often accompanies other immune system diseases

Sjogren’s syndrome often accompanies other immune-system disorders, such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus and hashimoto's thyroid.

We did a small informal survey on facebook asking Sjogren's sufferers if they had other autoimmune conditions as well as Sjogren's. Seventeen women responded. This is what they said:
4 had Hashimoto's thyroiditis, an underactive thyroid condition.
1 had Graves disease, an overactive thyroid condition.
3 had a type of myositis.
4 had Rheumatoid Arthritis RA.
3 had Lupus.
2 had Celiac disease.
1 had Diabetes.
2 had Scleroderma.
1 had Ankolysing Spondylitis AS.
6 had Raynaud's disease.

6 women had 3 or more autoimmune conditions. Some mentioned other conditions that were not immune related diseases.

Sjogren's Fact of the Week

90 percent of those who get Sjögren's Syndrome are women. Read more

Sjogren's Fact of the Week

Experts estimate that more than 4 million people have the disease.  

This makes it the second most common rheumatic disease yet many people have never heard of it. Read more...

Sjogren's fact of the week

Gluten: Wheat, rye & triticale

Biopsy of the small bowel revealed the occurrence of celiac like disease in 15% of Primary Sjogren's Syndrome patients.

Want more information: Institute of Medical Technology, University of Tampere, Finland: Celiac disease and markers of celiac disease latency in patients with
primary Sjögren's syndrome.

Read more about gluten (wheat, rye and triticale) and Sjogren's Syndrome and my personal story here.

Do you have a problem with gluten?