After playing in just one game, female tennis player Venus Williams announced that he resigned from the U.S. Open tennis competition which takes place August 29 to September 11 2011.

31-year-old has undergone several injuries, but this time he argued that the unusual Sjogren’s syndrome, which is an autoimmune disorder that causes joint pain and energy drain.

Williams only played in 11 games this season due to injury and disease. ”I’m glad I finally know the diagnosis of my illness and now my focus to be able to recover and return to play immediately,” Williams said in a statement released Health.com on Monday (05/09/2011).

Sjogren’s Syndrome Foundation listed as many as 4 million Americans have Sjogren’s (read: sogrens). This amount puts the syndrome as an autoimmune disease the number two of the most attacking of Americans after the Rheumatoid Arthritis and Lupus disease followed in third place. Ninety percent of sufferers are women.

“This is the main problem of women’s health. Many patients seem to look a lot better than they really feel,” said Frederick B. Vivino, MD, professor of clinical medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and chief of rheumatology at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Philadelphia

Sjogren’s Syndrome causes the white blood cells attack moisture-producing glands of the body. The most common symptoms are the eyes and the mouth is always dry. This syndrome can cause complications in the form of fatigue, joint pain, kidney problems, lung, liver, pancreas, and central nervous system.

Because the symptoms are similar to many other conditions, Sjogren’s syndrome difficult to diagnose, even for the most experienced clinicians. It took many years for patients to get a definitive diagnosis after suffering the first symptoms. Athletes like Venus Williams could fall due to this syndrome, but he may first receive a diagnosis of other diseases before.

“An athlete can feel the symptoms of the disease seems quicker,” said Vivino. ”When I was gasping, his mouth tends to dry faster. Symptoms are more important, fatigue will slow down the movement and affect performance. And if they feel the pain in joints and muscles are ongoing, they will conduct further tests to find out what wrong, “he explained.

Currently, there is no known treatment for Sjögren’s syndrome, but symptoms can be managed with good products such as eye drops, throat lozenges sugar free, and immune-suppressing drugs (immunosuppressive). The disease is cured of a sudden at about 5 percent of cases are found, but most sufferers of this disorder for life.

Not that Venus Williams could not play tennis again for good. ”Most of the symptoms can be treated, and in most cases, we can restore a healthy life and produktifas patients. Whether we can recover the athletes to be able to re-compete, that’s another story. But we think that intensive care will make a big difference,” said Vivino.