Sialoadenosis or sialosis

Surely we have never heard of a disease called Sialoadenosis or Sialosis , or even if we surely know where in our body it can develop. Today in our medical blog, we wanted to save space for this disease, where excess salivation is one of the direct consequences. Today we are going to know the Sialoadenosis or sialosis, what it is, what causes it or what symptoms it manifests.

What is the Sialoadenosis or Sialosis

Really the term sialoadenosis is not a disease but a set of diseases related to metabolic and secretory disorders, or what is the same, a reaction of the salivary glands to different endocrine diseases such as diabetes type II, hypothyroidism or gonadal dysfunction.

Sometimes it is the result or the response to a situation of malnutrition. In cases such as anorexia nervosa or in diseases in which the treatment is with hypotensive or psychotropic drugs , it appears as a recurrent and bilataral parotid swelling .

Therefore, we can define it as the increase in the size of the salivary glands, of a non-infectious nature, and neither is it tumor or cancerous. The gland that is usually affected in most cases is the parotid gland, although it is not the only one since although less frequently it can also be affected both the minor salivary glands and the submaxillary gland.

Causes of Sialoadenosis or Sialosis

Sialadenosis in most cases seems to respond to a type of metabolic disorder, in which alterations or hormonal disorders seems to propitiate its appearance. Disorders of climacteric style, diabetes, hormone deficiency, etc. There are different factors that always or almost always converge, these factors are:

    • Endocrine
      • Diabetes Mellitus, can favor the occurrence of sialosis
      • Pregnancy
      • Acromegaly, excessive secretion of growth hormone or GH
      • Nutritional
        • Any disorder that affects the digestion of food or its absorption for a prolonged period of time can produce sialosis. In addition, malnutrition also contributes to sialosis.
        • Bulimia and anorexia nervosa
        • The cystic fibrosis and pancreatitis
        • Malnutrition, pellagra
      • Metabolic
      • Inflammatory
      • Autoimmune
      • Drugs or alcohol
        • There is a wide range of drugs that can induce sialosis, including anti-hypertensive agents.
        • Alcohol abuse, drugs to treat liver cirrhosis. It has been described that between 30-80% of patients with alcoholic cirrhosis have sialosis.
        • Sympathomimetics such as siprenaline.

The salivary glands

The salivare glands s they are glands that also have an excretory duct through which they can expel substances through natural cavities to the outside, they are part of the digestive system .With the saliva we wrap the cud by moistening them and softening it, a great help in the swallowing, that is to say in the process of swallowing.

The mouth is covered with a mucosa, on both the tongue and the palate are flanked by glands of individual type that are responsible for moistening and lubricating the surfaces of the mouth. These glands are the minor salivary glands , but they are not the only ones because if there are glands minor salivary, there are also salivary glands major, these are arranged in three pairs and are:

      • Parotid li>
      • Submandibular
      • Sublingual

La Parotid

Sialoadenosis or Sialosis , is a disease or disorder whose origin is incidental to, it is not known exactly what causes it or why it reaches the enlargement of these salivary glands, although it is true that in most cases this inflammation is due to the parotid glands.

This type of enlargement or swelling does not have any malignant character and in most of the cases are reduced to the parotid glands and rarely affect other types of glands such as minor salivary glands.

The largest salivary gland is the parotid gland, located below the zygomatic arch, behind of the jaw. This gland has a duct called the parotid duct that crosses over the masteter muscle, crosses the buccinator muscle and reaches the mouth, at the top at the height of the second molar.

Symptoms of sialoadenosis or sialosis

As we have already seen, sialoadenosis or sialosis is the excessive production of saliva. The mouth is filled with saliva, which causes a thickening of this and in some cases, bad smell.

The most common symptoms are:

      • Drooling, when saliva flows out of the mouth.
      • Increased salivation
      • Increased swallowing
      • Vomiting and nausea

We can call sialorrhea when drooling babies , something very common and is the consequence d e a deficit in muscle control.

In any case, you should consult your doctor when this excess salivation does not have a clear reason, when it causes nausea or even a feeling of suffocation or if the process produces a fever, difficulty breathing or the head is tilted to one side or has a rare position.

Treatment for to Sialoadenosis or Sialosis

There is really no treatment to treat sialadenosis if it is not treating the condition that causes it.If you are interested in these topics, in blogmedicina we wanted to highlight some links of our page that will also interest you.

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