SJOGRENS SYNDROME AND PREGNANCY
It is possible that Mothers-in-waiting may suffer problems due to Sjogrens Syndrome and pregnancy. Even after their baby is born there are a few conditions which occur because of Sjogrn’s. There have been a few reported cases of new-born babies suffering from disturbed heart rhythms, although as stated – only a few. The reason for this is because antibodies called anti-Ro and anti-La can be passed from the Mother to the Baby. I stress again that this is very rare, but if your baby does develop a heart block he/she may need to be fitted with a pacemaker. Unfortunately there are more risks of miscarriage for a woman suffering from Sjogrens, more so than for women who do not suffer this disorder. However, if you go ahead with a pregnancy your Doctor will be well aware of your condition and the baby’s heart will be monitored throughout the pregnancy to detect early signs of heart problems. It is a distressing fact that women who have Sjogrens Syndrome could possibly suffer recurrent miscarriages. This occurs because people who have Sjogrn’s sometimes have antibodies called ‘antiphospholipids’. These antibodies make your blood more likely to clot than usual. The reason this causes a miscarrage is because the blood within the placenta has clotted. It is quite rare for anyone to get full blown antiphospholipid syndrome, but if this does happen the condition is quite treatable with anticoagulant medicines, i.e. aspirin, heparin or even wafarin. You should be aware that your baby could be born with lupus, but only in a temporary form, if you have in fact passed the anti-Ro and the anti-La antibodies through the placenta to your baby. You may notice a rash, most often found on the face, but this should go away without treatment between two and six months time. It has been discovered that if a women us suffering with Sjogrens Syndrome and pregnancy, her amniotic fluid could well carry larger particles than would be found in the amniotic fluid of a woman without any disorders. These larger particles can, in some unfortunate cases, cause the foetus to suffocate and then miscarry. This is a very disturbing situation but it can be avoided quite easily with the correct medication. The use of a blood thinner for example heparin or lovenox, injected into the stomach, also acts to thin out the amniotic fluid and thus avoids the heartbreaking consequences of leaving the larger particles. It is possible for an adult to inherit this disease but it is quite uncommon for this condition to be passed from parents to a baby. It is possible to contract Sjogrens Syndrome at different ages but there appear to be two peaks, one being in a woman’s chilbearing years, in her 30′s perhaps, and again in her late 40′s around the menopausal years. I mention the peaks regarding women because the incidence of this disease in women occurs in 9 out of 10 patients. |