What is dry syndrome all about?

  A brief answer to a question like severe vaginal dryness in middle-aged and elderly women that affects their sex life.  Dry syndrome is an autoimmune disease that invades the exocrine glands of the whole body. The main clinical manifestations are dry mouth and eyes. Dry mouth is characterized by reduced saliva secretion and not easily controlled dental caries. Atrophy of the tongue papillae and reddening of the tongue may be seen. Dry eyes are due to reduced lacrimal gland secretion, conjunctivitis, foreign body sensation and keratitis. A few patients may have corneal ulceration, perforation, and blindness. About 70% have joint pain, which may be wandering and morning stiffness, but joint deformity rarely occurs. In addition, it can invade several internal organs such as kidney, digestive tract, and nervous system. It is associated with immune dysfunction, with a marked increase in CD5(+)B, up to 30%-40% in peripheral blood. 4B4(+)/CD45RO(+) predominates in T cells. gamma globulin is elevated to varying degrees, with IgG elevation being the most common. The presence of a large number of abnormal antibodies destroys the exocrine glands in the body and leads to the appearance of a series of dryness symptoms. There is no specific medicine for dry syndrome, and once the gland is atrophied, it is not easy to recover. The application of regulating immune function such as thymidine can have certain effect.