Sjögren’s disease (SjD), a highly female predominant systemic autoimmune disease, peaks in perimenopause. Prior studies lack details on timing or type of sex hormone exposure. This study from HIP Investigator Dr. Christie Bartels examined SjD risk using endogenous and exogenous hormone exposure and related comorbidities. Researchers performed a retrospective case-control study of adult women and found that the top exposures associated with developing Sjögren’s disease included fibromyalgia, osteoporosis, and use of hormone replacement therapy. Possible protective factors included prior diabetes and higher body mass index. In addition they used the newly identified exposures to generate a predictive algorithm, which has potential to improve diagnosis and pathogenic insights into Sjögren’s disease.
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