Friday, March 13, 2015

SSF Blog: What is a Sjogren's Flare?

Since I seem to be experiencing a whopper flare, the latest excellent post from the Sjogren's Syndrome Foundation blog is timely. It's entitled "What is a Sjogren's Flare?" and can be found here.

Medical dictionaries define “flare” as a sudden exacerbation of a disease. A flare is different from the day-to- day variation of symptoms that patients with chronic diseases experience and is characterized as a large and rapid increase in a patient’s usual symptoms. I like to define a flare as a sudden and significant increase in the activity of a disease. This definition allows us to use quantitative measures of disease activity to compare levels of disease activity from one point in time (e.g. baseline) to another (e.g. flare).  
Several measures of disease activity have been developed for Sjögren’s. The two most promising are the European League Against Rheumatism Sjögren’s Syndrome Disease Activity Index (ESSDAI) and the European League Against Rheumatism Sjögren’s Syndrome Patient Reported Index (ESSPRI). The first is a tool that measures disease activity from the physician’s perspective in the many organs and systems affected by Sjögren’s. Continue reading here
The SSF's suggestions for healthy strategies during a flare are very good and I plan on incorporating all of them into my daily routine. But I think silly animal videos provide equally therapeutic treatment:



Best. Video. Ever. I feel better already.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Julia,
I ran across your blog a month or so ago while Googling Sjogren's information. I just wanted to send a note and tell you how much I enjoy and look forward to your posts. I have several autoimmune conditions that at this time are not very well controlled. Getting your posts each day has helped me to feel not so alone with it all.
I'm sorry you're a bit under the weather right now, I hope you feel better soon. Such a crummy price to pay for doing what is "normal". I'm at the end (hopefully!) of a Crohn's flare that started when I went to visit my granddaughters. It sure was fun while I was there though :)
Oh, one more thing, the cops and robbers doggy video made me laugh outloud. Good little actors! "WDPD"... adorable! Thanks for sharing it.
Take good care.
Christie

Julia Oleinik said...

Hi Christie - Thank you for your very kind comments! I'm so glad that you can find some useful info here on Reasonably Well. Hope your Crohn's settles down soon.

LM said...

So timely as usual. I am (or I think I am) coming out of a flare. I was diagnosed with Sjogren's and some other issues three years ago. I'm still learning and having a difficult time knowing when it is more than a few bad days and waiting too long to address the problem, until I've figured out it's a full blown flare and I'm feeling terrible. Seems as if some new symptoms pop-up every year to add the laundry list. Last year it was Raynaud's. I suppose we just learn as we go. Loved the dog video. So cute. Thanks for sharing. Hope you're resting.

ShareThis