Sjögren syndrome. Pronounced shor’gren. This has been a stumper for both newbie and seasoned medical transcriptionists to verify spelling on.
This is an autoimmune disorder in which immune cells attack and destroy the exocrine glands that produce saliva and tears.
It was named after Henrik Sjögren (1899-1986), a Swedish opthalmologist who first described it.
It is estimated to touch as many as 4 million people in the United States, which makes it the second most common autoimmune rheumatic disease.