Dry syndrome (SS) is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease that mainly involves exocrine glands. Primary dry syndrome is a global disease, the prevalence of which is 0.3%~0.7% in our population, and 3%~4% in the elderly population. The disease is more common in women, and the ratio of men to women is 1:9~20. The age of onset is mostly 40~50 years old. It is also seen in children.
I. Local manifestations.
1, dry mouth syndrome.
(1) Dry mouth, serious people need to drink water frequently when they talk, when they eat solid food, they need to accompany with water or liquid food to send down, sometimes they need to get up at night to drink water, etc.
(2) Rampant dental caries, manifested as the teeth gradually become black, then small pieces fall off, and finally only the residual roots remain.
(3) Adult mumps, intermittent alternating painful swelling of parotid gland, involving unilateral or bilateral. Most of them subside on their own in about 10 days, but sometimes the enlargement persists. Some of them are accompanied by fever.
(4) Painful tongue, dry and cracked tongue, and atrophied and smooth tongue papillae.
(5) Ulceration or secondary infection of oral mucosa.
2.Dry keratoconjunctivitis
Symptoms such as dry eyes, foreign body sensation, few tears, and in severe cases, no tears when crying. Some patients have recurrent purulent infection of eyelid margin, conjunctivitis, keratitis, etc.
3. There are also symptoms such as dry nose, dry cough, stomach discomfort, reduced vaginal secretion, and no sweating.
Second, systemic manifestations
Systemic symptoms such as malaise, low fever, etc. About 2/3 of patients show systemic damage.
1. Skin.
(1) Allergic purpura-like rash: Mostly seen on the lower limbs, it is a red papule with clear borders of the size of rice grains, does not fade when pressed, and appears in batches. The duration of each batch is about 10 days, and can fade on its own with brown pigmentation.
(2) Erythema nodosum is less common.
(3) Raynaud’s phenomenon is not serious and does not cause ulceration of the finger end or atrophy of the corresponding tissue.
2.Skeletal muscle: arthralgia, myalgia.
3, kidney : hypokalemic muscle paralysis, severe renal calcification, kidney stones and chondromalacia. Polydipsia, polyuria. Proteinuria, hypoalbuminemia, and even renal insufficiency.
4, lung: dry cough, shortness of breath in severe cases.
5. Digestive system: atrophic gastritis, decreased gastric acid, indigestion. Liver damage, jaundice ranging from jaundice to no clinical symptoms but with liver function impairment.
6, Nerve: peripheral nerve damage is common, with numbness and pain in the fingers.