BETHESDA, Md.—The Sjögren’s Syndrome Foundation (SSF) has announced that April 2017 marks the 19th annual Sjögren’s Awareness Month.

Sjögren’s Awareness Month was established in 1998 when U.S. Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) read it into the Congressional Record. The SSF is working to keep the spirit of national awareness alive this April upon the 19th anniversary, according to a SSF announcement.

Sjögren’s is an autoimmune disorder affecting more than 4 million Americans, with an estimated 2.5 million patients currently undiagnosed, SSF noted. Dry eye is a common early symptom of Sjögren’s. In addition, women are nine times more likely than men to develop Sjögren's. The average age of diagnosis is around 40.

As in years past, SSF said it will work with members and volunteers across the country to continue the mission of educating patients and families about Sjögren’s.

“Our goal is to increase public and health care professional awareness of Sjögren’s, further shorten the time for correct diagnosis, which now takes an average of three years, and encourage research into new treatments and a cure for one of the most prevalent autoimmune disorders affecting approximately 1 percent of the U.S. population,” SSF chief executive officer Steven Taylor said in the announcement.

SSF said that each day during Sjögren’s Awareness Month the Foundation will use one or more of its social media channels to educate consumers, health care professionals and others by providing facts about the disease, offering resources, and sharing stories of those with Sjögren’s to help others visualize and better understand what it is like to suffer from Sjögren’s.

Because dry eye is a typical early symptom of Sjögren’s, “eyecare professionals are often on the frontline of diagnosis,” Taylor said. “We encourage eyecare professionals to help us spread the word by following us on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, and sharing, and commenting on selected posts issued from these channels, using our #ThisisSjogrens hashtag.”

At this time, there is no cure for Sjögren’s, but there are treatments that may improve various symptoms and prevent complications. On average, Sjögren’s patients said they use nearly nine medications and treatments (8.8 mean) to help with their Sjögren’s symptoms, according to a survey of almost 3,000 patients ages 18 and older conducted in 2016 by the Harris Poll on behalf of SSF. In the nationwide “Living with Sjögren’s” survey, the vast majority (96 percent) of Sjögren’s patients reported they wish there were additional systemic therapies available to help treat their symptoms.

Also, slightly more than one-half of patients (54 percent) described dry eyes, fatigue (54 percent) and dry mouth (50 percent), the three most commonly reported symptoms of Sjögren’s, as having a major impact on their lives in the last year, according to the Harris Poll survey. On average, seven of every 10 survey respondents (71 percent) agreed that their Sjögren's gets in the way of the things they need to do each day, Harris found.

Stephen Cohen, OD, SSF’s chairman, said Sjögren’s is “often referred to as an ‘invisible disease,’ because while patients may experience extreme discomfort, their symptoms are not clearly visible to others. With the added support of eyecare professionals and industry partners, we believe we can shine a light on Sjögren’s to ensure greater awareness and understanding of this often-debilitating disease and help patients get an early diagnosis and proper treatment,” he said.