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Sjogren's syndrome, also called Sjogren's disease, is a chronic (long-lasting) autoimmune disease. When you have an autoimmune disease, your immune system attacks healthy tissues and organs by mistake. In Sjogren's syndrome, your immune system attacks the glands that make moisture in the eyes, mouth, and other parts of the body. This causes a dry mouth and dry eyes. You may have dryness in other places that need moisture, such as your nose, throat, and skin. Sjogren's can also affect other parts of the body, including your joints, lungs, kidneys, blood vessels, digestive organs, and nerves.

Normally, your immune system protects the body from infection and disease. But with Sjogren's syndrome and other autoimmune diseases, your immune system attacks healthy tissues and organs. Researchers don't know for sure what causes the immune system to do this. But they think that it is caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Studies have linked Sjogren's syndrome to gene changes in several genes. Some researchers also think that the disease may be triggered by something in the environment. For example, they think that one possible trigger could be a previous infection with a virus or bacteria.

Most people with Sjogren's syndrome are women. You can get it at any age, but it is most common in people in their 40s and 50s.

Sjogren's syndrome is more common in people who have other autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. This is known as a secondary form of Sjogren's syndrome. People who don't have another autoimmune disease have a primary form of Sjogren's syndrome.

Sjogren's syndrome may have different effects on the body. Not everyone will have the same symptoms. Some people have cycles of mild and then severe symptoms.

The two main symptoms are:

• Dry eyes. Your eyes may burn or itch or feel like they have sand in them. Sometimes your vision may be blurry, or you could be bothered by bright lights.
• Dry mouth. Your tongue and your throat may feel dry. You might have trouble swallowing, speaking, and tasting.

Sjogren's syndrome can also affect other parts of the body, causing symptoms such as:

• Joint and muscle pain
• Dry skin
• Rashes on the skin of hands or feet
• Numbness or tingling in the hands or feet
• Vaginal dryness
• Dry cough that doesn't go away
• Fatigue that doesn't go away

There is no single test for Sjogren's syndrome. To find out if you have it, your provider:

• Will ask about your medical history and symptoms.
• Will do a physical exam, which includes checking for signs of dry mouth and signs of related autoimmune diseases.
• May order tests, including:
  • Eye tests to see if you produce a normal amount of tears and to find out if your eyes have been damaged by dryness.
  • Salivary gland tests to measure how much saliva your mouth produces. They could include imaging tests and a biopsy.
  • Blood tests.

There is no cure for Sjogren's syndrome. Treatment focuses on relieving your symptoms. The treatments can be different for each person, depending on which parts of the body are affected. They may include:

• Eye drops (artificial tears) or ointments to relieve dryness in the eyes.
• Saliva substitutes.
• Prescription medicines that cause your salivary glands to make more saliva.
• A minor procedure that places small plugs the tear duct in the corners of the eyes. The plugs block your tears from draining so they stay in your eyes longer.
• Medicines to help with other symptoms caused by Sjogren's syndrome, such as medicines for pain and inflammation.
• Medicines that suppress (weaken) your immune system (for severe cases).

You can also try to relieve some of your symptoms by sucking on sugar-free candy, drinking water often, increasing the humidity in your room, and not smoking. Because having a dry mouth can raise your risk of cavities, it's important to take good care of your teeth and see your dentist regularly.

Degenerative nerve diseases affect many of your body's activities, such as balance, movement, talking, breathing, and heart function. Many of these diseases are genetic. Sometimes the cause is a medical condition such as alcoholism, a tumor, or a stroke. Other causes may include toxins, chemicals, and viruses. Sometimes the cause is unknown.

Degenerative nerve diseases include:

• Alzheimer's disease
• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
• Friedreich ataxia
• Huntington's disease
• Lewy body disease
• Parkinson's disease
• Spinal muscular atrophy

Degenerative nerve diseases can be serious or life-threatening. It depends on the type. Most of them have no cure. Treatments may help improve symptoms, relieve pain, and increase mobility.

Saliva, or spit, is made by your salivary glands. It helps keep you and your mouth healthy. For example:

• It moistens and breaks down the foods you eat, which makes it easier for you to chew and swallow.
• It washes away small food pieces from your teeth and gums, which helps fight against tooth decay.
• It contains minerals such as calcium and phosphate, which can also help fight tooth decay.
• It contains antibodies that can fight against infections of the mouth and throat. Antibodies are proteins that your immune system makes to fight foreign substances such as viruses and bacteria.

Having dry mouth, also called xerostomia, means that you don't have enough saliva to keep your mouth wet. Everyone has a dry mouth once in a while, like when you are nervous or stressed. But if you have a dry mouth all or most of the time, it can be uncomfortable. It can make chewing, swallowing, and even talking difficult. It also raises your risk for tooth decay or infections in the mouth.

There are many possible causes of dry mouth, including:

• Side effects of certain medicines, such as some medicines for high blood pressure, depression, and bladder-control issues
• Diseases such as Sjogren's syndrome, HIV, salivary gland disorders, and diabetes
• Radiation therapy, which can damage your salivary glands if they are exposed to radiation during the treatment
• Chemotherapy, which can make your saliva thicker and cause your mouth to feel dry
• Nerve damage, when it involves the nerves that tell salivary glands to make saliva
• Breathing through your mouth
• Use of alcohol, tobacco, or other substances

The symptoms of dry mouth may include:

• A sticky, dry feeling in your mouth
• Trouble chewing, swallowing, tasting, or speaking
• A burning feeling in your mouth
• A dry feeling in your throat
• Cracked lips
• A dry, rough tongue
• Mouth sores
• An infection in your mouth
• Bad breath

If you have dry mouth, it's important to find out the cause. To do that, your health care provider or dentist will review your medical history, examine your mouth, and ask about any medicines you take. They may also suggest blood tests or a test that measures how much saliva you produce.

Treatment for dry mouth depends on the cause. For example, if a medicine is causing dry mouth, your provider or dentist may suggest adjusting the dosage or switching medicines. In some cases, they might give you artificial saliva or a medicine to help your salivary glands work better.

There are also several things you can do to help relieve your symptoms:

• Drink plenty of water
• Avoid drinks with caffeine, which can dry out your mouth
• Chew sugarless gum or suck on sugarless hard candy to stimulate saliva flow
• Avoid spicy or salty foods because they can cause pain if your mouth is dry
• Avoid alcohol and tobacco
• Using a humidifier at night
• Use a mouthwash made for dry mouth

Since dry mouth can raise your risk of tooth decay, it's important to brush and floss your teeth regularly and see your dentist at least twice a year.

NIH: National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research

Hypothyroidism, or underactive thyroid, happens when your thyroid gland doesn't make enough thyroid hormones to meet your body's needs.

Your thyroid is a small, butterfly-shaped gland in the front of your neck. It makes hormones that control the way the body uses energy. These hormones affect nearly every organ in your body and control many of your body's most important functions. For example, they affect your breathing, heart rate, weight, digestion, and moods. Without enough thyroid hormones, many of your body's functions slow down. But there are treatments that can help.

Hypothyroidism has several causes. They include:

• Hashimoto's disease, an autoimmune disorder where your immune system attacks your thyroid. This is the most common cause.
• Thyroiditis, inflammation of the thyroid
• Congenital hypothyroidism, hypothyroidism that is present at birth
• Surgical removal of part or all of the thyroid
• Radiation treatment of the thyroid
• Certain medicines
• In rare cases, a pituitary disease or too much or too little iodine in your diet

You are at higher risk for hypothyroidism if you:

• Are a woman
• Are older than age 60
• Have had a thyroid problem before, such as a goiter
• Have had surgery to correct a thyroid problem
• Have received radiation treatment to the thyroid, neck, or chest
• Have a family history of thyroid disease
• Were pregnant or had a baby in the past 6 months
• Have Turner syndrome, a genetic disorder that affects females
• Have pernicious anemia, in which the body cannot make enough healthy red blood cells because it does not have enough vitamin B12
• Have Sjogren's syndrome, a disease that causes dry eyes and mouth
• Have type 1 diabetes
• Have rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease that affects the joints
• Have lupus, a chronic autoimmune disease

The symptoms of hypothyroidism can vary from person to person and may include:

• Fatigue
• Weight gain
• A puffy face
• Trouble tolerating cold
• Joint and muscle pain
• Constipation
• Dry skin
• Dry, thinning hair
• Decreased sweating
• Heavy or irregular menstrual periods
• Fertility problems in women
• Depression
• Slowed heart rate
• Goiter, an enlarged thyroid that may cause your neck to look swollen. Sometimes it can cause trouble with breathing or swallowing.

Because hypothyroidism develops slowly, many people don't notice symptoms of the disease for months or even years.

Hypothyroidism can contribute to high cholesterol. In rare cases, untreated hypothyroidism can cause myxedema coma. This is a condition in which your body's functions slow down to the point that it becomes life-threatening.

During pregnancy, hypothyroidism can cause complications, such as premature birth, high blood pressure in pregnancy, and miscarriage. It can also slow the baby's growth and development.

Your health care provider may use many tools to make a diagnosis:

• A medical history, including asking about your symptoms
• A physical exam
• Thyroid tests, such as
  • TSH, T3, T4, and thyroid antibody blood tests
  • Imaging tests, such as a thyroid scan, ultrasound, or radioactive iodine uptake test. A radioactive iodine uptake test measures how much radioactive iodine your thyroid takes up from your blood after you swallow a small amount of it.

The treatment for hypothyroidism is medicine to replace the hormone that your own thyroid can no longer make. About 6 to 8 weeks after you start taking the medicine, you will get a blood test to check your thyroid hormone level. Your health care provider will adjust your dose if needed. Each time your dose is adjusted, you'll have another blood test. Once you find the right dose, you will probably get a blood test in 6 months. After that, you will need the test once a year.

If you take your medicine according to the instructions, you usually should be able to control the hypothyroidism. You should never stop taking your medicine without talking with your health care provider first.

If you have Hashimoto's disease or other types of autoimmune thyroid disorders, you may be sensitive to harmful side effects from iodine. Talk to your health care provider about which foods, supplements, and medicines you need to avoid.

Women need more iodine when they are pregnant because the baby gets iodine from the mother's diet. If you are pregnant, talk with your health care provider about how much iodine you need.

NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

Your joints are places where two or more bones come together. Your shoulders, elbows, hips, knees, and knuckles are all joints. Your spine has joints, too.

But joints are more than bones. They include the soft tissues around them, such as cartilage, tendons and ligaments. Cartilage is the hard slippery flexible tissue that covers the ends of your bones at a joint. Tendons are tough, flexible bands that connect your muscles to your bones so you can move your joints. Ligaments connect the bones of the joint to each other to keep them stable when you move.

Joint disorders are diseases or injuries that affect your joints. Injuries can happen because of overuse of a joint. Or you could have a sudden injury, such as an accident or a sports injury.

Many diseases can affect the joints. They often cause joint pain and make your joints stiff, red, or swollen. Most of them are chronic. That means they last a long time. Some may never go away completely. Some of the diseases that affect the joints include:

• Arthritis. Arthritis may cause joint pain and swelling. There are many types of this disease. Osteoarthritis is the most common type. Over time, arthritis can cause severe joint damage. It can affect people of all ages. A joint injury when you're young may cause osteoarthritis later in life.
• Lupus. This autoimmune disease affects many parts of the body and can cause joint and muscle pain. Some types of lupus often cause arthritis.
• Sjögren's Syndrome. This autoimmune disease affects glands that make moisture in many parts of the body. The main symptoms are dry eyes and mouth, but it often causes joint pain, too.

Treatments are different depending on the disease. But most treatments include medicines and therapies to relieve pain and other symptoms.

Joint disorders from sudden injuries include:

• Sprains and strains. Sprains are stretched or torn ligaments. Acute strains are stretched or torn muscles or tendons that happen from a sudden injury or movement, such as lifting a heavy object.
• Dislocated joints. A joint is dislocated when the bones are pushed or pulled out of position. A joint dislocation is a medical emergency.

Treatment depends on the type of injury. You can treat many sports injuries at home. But you should call your health care provider if you:

• Have a lot of joint pain, swelling or numbness
• Can't put weight on the joint
• Have pain from an old injury with more swelling, an unstable joint, or a joint that isn't normal in another way

Overuse injuries usually damage the soft tissues of the joint. They can happen when you work a joint too hard by doing the same movements over and over. For example, you could get an overuse injury from playing a musical instrument, playing sports, or doing certain jobs, such as carpentry or painting.

Joint overuse injuries include:

• Bursitis. The bursa is a small fluid-filled sac. It works as a pad between the bones of a joint and the moving parts around it, such as muscles, tendons and skin. With bursitis, the bursa becomes irritated and swollen with extra fluid. Overuse is the most common cause, but injuries, infections and other conditions, such as arthritis, can cause bursitis.
• Tendinitis. This condition happens when you overuse a tendon. It swells and makes the joint painful to move.
• Chronic strain. A strain becomes chronic when your muscles or tendons stretch or tear slowly over time from repeating the same movements.

The treatments for bursitis, tendinitis, and chronic strain are often the same. They usually include rest, keeping the injured joint higher than your heart, and taking medicine to reduce swelling. Your provider may recommend gentle exercise and other treatment. In some cases, your provider may suggest an injection (a shot) of medicine into the joint. If these do not help, you may need surgery.

Getting enough physical activity is one of the most important things you can do to prevent or slow joint disorders. Activity strengthens the muscles around your joints and helps them work better.

When you play sports, wear the right equipment to protect your joints, such as knee pads. If you already have joint problems, ask your provider what type of activities are best for you.

NIH: National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases

Your salivary glands are in your mouth. You have three pairs of major salivary glands and hundreds of small (minor) glands. They make saliva (spit) and empty it into your mouth through openings called ducts. Saliva makes your food moist, which helps you chew and swallow. It helps you digest your food. It also cleans your mouth and contains antibodies that can kill germs.

Problems with salivary glands can cause them to become irritated and swollen. You may have symptoms such as:

• A bad taste in your mouth
• Difficulty opening your mouth
• Dry mouth
• Pain in your face or mouth
• Swelling of your face or neck

Causes of salivary gland problems include infections, obstruction, or cancer. Problems can also be due to other disorders, such as mumps or Sjogren's syndrome.

Every day, you have different experiences and you learn new things. Your brain cannot store all of that information, so it has to decide what is worth remembering. Memory is the process of storing and then remembering this information. There are different types of memory. Short-term memory stores information for a few seconds or minutes. Long-term memory stores it for a longer period of time.

Memory doesn't always work perfectly. As you grow older, it may take longer to remember things.

It's normal to forget things once in a while. We've all forgotten a name, where we put our keys, or if we locked the front door. If you are an older adult who forget things more often than others your age, you may have mild cognitive impairment. Forgetting how to use your phone or find your way home may be signs of a more serious problem, such as:

• Alzheimer's disease
• Other types of dementia
• Stroke
• Depression
• Head injuries
• Blood clots or tumors in the brain
• Kidney, liver, or thyroid problems
• Reactions to certain medicines

If you're worried about your forgetfulness, see your health care provider.

NIH: National Institute on Aging

You may only think of tears as those salty drops that fall from your eyes when you cry. Actually, your tears clean your eyes every time you blink. Tears also keep your eyes moist, which is important for your vision.

Tear glands produce tears, and tear ducts carry the tears from the glands to the surface of your eye. Problems with the tear system can include too many tears, too few tears, or problems with the tear ducts. Treatment of the problem depends on the cause.