History & Exam
Your doctor will take a detailed medical history, which includes asking questions about:
general health symptoms family medical history alcohol use smoking use of medications Your doctor will also do a complete physical exam to check for other signs of Sjogren's.
Your doctor will want to check your eyes and mouth to see whether Sjogren's is causing your symptoms.
Tests
Your doctor may do other tests to see whether the disease is elsewhere in the body as well. Common eye and mouth tests are:
Schirmer test (measures tears to check the lacrimal gland) Staining with vital dyes (shows how much damage dryness has done to the surface of the eye) Slit lamp examination (shows how severe the dryness is and whether the outside of the eye is inflamed) Mouth exam (looks in the mouth for signs of dryness and to see if any salivary glands are swollen) Salivary gland biopsy of the lip (this test is the best way to find out whether dry mouth is caused by Sjogren's syndrome) Other Causes
Because there are many causes of dry eyes and dry mouth, other causes will be taken into account. Generally, you are considered to have Sjogren's if you have:
dry eyes dry mouth a positive lip biopsy Your doctor may do additional tests to see whether other parts of the body are affected, these include:
routine blood tests immunological tests antithyroid antibodies immunoglobulins rheumatoid factor antinuclear antibodies Sjogren's antibodies (SS-A,SS-Ro,SS-B,SS-La) chest x-ray urinalysis
