Birmingham doctors awarded grant for work into little-known disease
Doctors in Birmingham have been awarded a 12-month grant of £36,000 from medical research charity the Arthritis Research Campaign for their work on the common but little-known and under-researched condition of Sjögren's syndrome.
A team led by Dr Simon Bowman, senior lecturer in the University of Birmingham's department of rheumatology, aims to raise the profile of the condition and develop improved methods of assessment.
Sjögren's syndrome is an auto-immune disorder affecting around half a million people in the UK, occurring mainly in women between the ages of 30 and 50.
The most common symptoms are dry eyes and dry mouth, fatigue, joint pains and generally feeling unwell. It can also occur in people who have rheumatoid arthritis. The causes are unknown, although it may be triggered off by a virus.
"The condition is frustrating for patients who feel that their disability is not taken seriously, and for medical staff who do not have a great deal of active therapy to offer," explained Dr Bowman.
"And because it is less dramatic in its effects than either rheumatoid arthritis or lupus, it has not received the attention that other serious conditions get – despite the substantial and equivalent levels of disability that patients suffer."
Dr Bowman and his team plan to collaborate with clinics around the UK to raise the profile of Sjögren's syndrome, and to develop a specific questionnaire on symptoms and quality of life that will help to identify patients and help to distinguish it from other conditions. It will also provide a sensitive overall outcome measure in future clinical trials.
