Global Consensus on Sjögren Disease
As of 2025, GAI has officially updated our A–Z List to reflect the new international consensus on nomenclature.
An international task force of 79 experts and 1,431 patients from 34 countries has issued new consensus recommendations on the nomenclature of Sjögren’s, published in Nature Reviews Rheumatology.
The group concluded that the term “Sjögren syndrome” should be replaced with “Sjögren disease (SjD)”.
The change is intended to correct the misconception that Sjögren is simply a vague collection of symptoms. Instead, it is a distinct autoimmune disease with well-defined autoantibodies, glandular pathology, and systemic manifestations. Patients strongly supported the change, expressing that the word “syndrome” undermines the seriousness of the condition.
The consensus also recommends replacing the term “secondary Sjögren” with “associated Sjögren disease” when the condition coexists with another systemic autoimmune disease, such as rheumatoid arthritis or lupus. For routine clinical use, experts suggest dropping the primary/secondary distinction altogether, though researchers may still use these categories in trials to maintain study consistency.
This shift aligns Sjögren with other autoimmune diseases that no longer use outdated or confusing terminology (e.g., “primary biliary cirrhosis” → “primary biliary cholangitis”). For patients, researchers, and clinicians, the updated nomenclature brings greater clarity and may also improve awareness, funding, and advocacy for a condition that often remains underdiagnosed and misunderstood.
Citation
International Task Force on Nomenclature of Sjögren Disease, et al. (2025). 2023 International Rome consensus for the nomenclature of Sjögren disease. Nature reviews. Rheumatology, 21(7), 426–437. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41584-025-01268-z