Balint, Geza, Watson Buchanan, W, Kean, Colin A et al. · Inflammopharmacology · 2024 · DOI
Sjögren's syndrome is an autoimmune disease that causes dry eyes and dry mouth, often with swollen salivary glands. This review article explains that Sjögren's syndrome can occur on its own or alongside other autoimmune diseases like lupus or rheumatoid arthritis. Importantly, the authors note that Sjögren's syndrome has been linked to chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia, suggesting there may be shared features between these conditions.
This review is significant for ME/CFS patients and researchers because it documents a recognized association between Sjögren's syndrome and chronic fatigue syndrome in the medical literature, suggesting overlapping immunological or clinical mechanisms. Understanding these connections may help researchers identify shared pathways and could improve clinical recognition and management of patients with both conditions.
This review does not establish causation, prevalence rates, or mechanistic links between Sjögren's syndrome and ME/CFS. It does not provide evidence about how frequently the two conditions co-occur, their shared biological pathways, or whether treating one condition improves outcomes in the other. The narrative format means associations are documented but not systematically quantified.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
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