News

Adding supplements of epidermal growth factor — a signaling protein — to the current treatment regimens of Sjögren’s syndrome, may improve oral damage and quality of life in patients with the disease, a new study suggests. The study, “Deterioration in saliva quality in patients with Sjögren’s syndrome: impact of decrease…

Blocking the signals from interleukin-7 (IL-7) — a protein involved in T-cell development and normal functioning — reduces the clinical manifestations of Sjögren’s syndrome in mice, research shows. These findings suggest that IL-7 and its receptor are important contributors for the autoimmune response in Sjögren’s syndrome, and could represent…

Sleep problems are common in primary Sjogren’s syndrome patients and seem to worsen symptoms of fatigue and pain, affecting the ability of patients to perform daily activities, according to researchers from the U.K. But a focus group study reports Sjogren’s patients are generally open to tailored sleep therapy interventions as…

At least 800 people representing some 45 countries are soon expected to gather in Austria’s capital city, Vienna, for ECRD 2018, the 9th European Conference on Rare Diseases and Orphan Products. The May 10-12 meeting is sponsored by Eurordis, the Paris-based group that defines itself as a “patient-driven alliance”…

In rare cases, patients with Sjögren’s syndrome may develop an unusual degradation of the kidney’s filtering system — a condition called fibrillary glomerulonephritis — a case report shows. While this is only the third case describing this association, the study adds Sjögren’s to the list of disorders linked to fibrillary…

Under the supervision of a computer science professor at Knox College, students are applying their recently-learned skills in developing apps designed to help people living with Sjögren’s syndrome. The professor, Monica McGill, began researching Sjögren’s after her daughter was diagnosed with the disorder five years ago. After collecting some…

Decreased levels of memory B-cells, a kind of white blood cell, may help diagnose patients with primary Sjögren’s syndrome and determine the severity of their disease, a new study shows. Tests based on memory B-cell levels potentially could be used as disease markers for predicting outcomes and tracking the effect…

The average time for a patient to be diagnosed with Sjögren’s syndrome has been reduced from six to less than three years, meeting the “5-Year Breakthrough Goal” established by the Sjögren’s Syndrome Foundation in January 2012. Patients should benefit greatly from this milestone,…

A little-known government entity within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is helping to lead U.S. efforts to speed up the development of therapies for some 7,000 rare diseases. The Office of Rare Diseases Research (ORDR), headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, was established in 1993 within the NIH Office of the…

Monoclonal gammopathy, a condition marked by an unusual protein produced in plasma cells and one that can progress to a blood cancer, is evident in patients with Sjögren syndrome and certain other rheumatic diseases, a Chinese study found. Sjögren patients with highly active disease are more likely…