What Type of Sjogren's Are You?

Stratification of Sjogren's Patients by Symptoms.

Symptom severity can vary significantly among individuals with Sjogren’s. While some report mild dry eyes and dry mouths, others report debilitating pain and fatigue. A recent study recognized this heterogeneity of symptom manifestation as a key challenge to finding effective treatments for patients. In response, the study sought to stratify patients into subgroups in order to more precisely define the disease complexity for different subsets of patients.

The study looked at the five most common symptoms associated with primary Sjogren’s (pain, fatigue, dryness, anxiety, and depression) and identified 4 subgroups of symptoms within patients: 1) low symptom burden (LSB), 2) high symptom burden (HSB), 3) dryness dominant with fatigue (DDF), and 4) pain dominant with fatigue (PDF). Those with LSB rate low on all 5 symptoms; those with HSB rate high on all 5 symptoms; those with DDF rate high in fatigue and dryness; and those with PDF rate high in pain and fatigue, with some dryness.

By stratifying patients based on symptoms, the study was able to find better correlations showing that certain medications were more effective in treating a given subgroup of Sjogren’s patients. Hydroxychloroquine was shown to be more effective for patients with HSB, while rituximab was shown to be more effective for those with DDF.

You can read the full study here: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanrhe/article/PIIS2665-9913(19)30042-6/fulltext