July 23rd is World Sjögren’s Day, a day meant to put a face on the millions of people who live with this disease or suffer from symptoms and have yet to be diagnosed. What is Sjögren’s syndrome? It is an autoimmune condition where glands in the mouth and eyes have a decreased production of tears and saliva which can cause significant distress. Learn more in our past blog.
For our many patients suffering with Sjögren’s we acknowledge this special day to draw awareness to this condition. As research continues to evolve in this area we are happy that there is a new prescription eye drop for dry eyes that was recently released. It is called Xiidra (lifitegrast) and it is used twice daily. If you suffer with dry eyes and are not being managed well with your current eye drop, speak to your ophthalmologist about this new medication.
If you wish to donate to research surrounding Sjögren’s syndrome, please visit this donation page.