Primary Sjögren syndrome in primary health care

Sjogren’s syndrome (SjS) is a slowly progressive autoimmune disease that predominantly affects middle-aged women, with a female to male ratio on the order of 9:1. SS is characterized by lymphocytic infiltration of the exocrine glands, mainly the lacrimal and salivary glands, resulting in reduced secretory function and oral and ocular dryness. The syndrome can present alone as primary SjS (pSjS) or in the context of underlying connective tissue disease as secondary SjS (sSjS). Although the pathogenesis of the disease remains elusive, environmental, genetic and hormonal factors all appear to contribute [1].