Clinical Studies

Anxiety was the main reason that I started reading medical journal articles.  It's almost like an amusement park - you're up, then you're down.  There are so many complications I have read about that I don't have.  As a patient usually watchful waiting is the best idea for me.  So goodbye to cachexia and amyloidosis for now, not to mention interstitial lung disease.

The last study I read appears here http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22709490

A study of the prevalence of sicca symptoms and secondary Sjögren's syndrome in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, and its association to disease activity and treatment profile. 

CONCLUSION: Among the 307 RA patients, 28% had at least one sicca symptom. The estimated minimum of prevalence of sSS in 307 RA patients was 3.6%. Secondary Sjögren's syndrome was not found in RA patients treated with biologics such as TNF blockers.

Well I wish that conclusion about not seeing Secondary Sjogren's in patients treated with TNF blockers were accurate in people outside the sample that was used.  Really, I want it to be prophetic.  But it's just another dip in the RA roller coaster.

Could they be implying that it prevents the onset of Sjogren's Syndrome in Rheumatoid Disease? That would be a good reason to tip the balance in favour of biologics for RA treatment if you ask me for my opinion.

Sjogren's is unpleasant to deal with, treating the symptoms is costly and it also adds limitations to one's life.