June 22: Venus Williams in action during the match
against Kimiko Date-Krumm at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships
at Wimbledon.
Venus Williams
withdrew from the U.S. Open Wednesday, revealing that she had been
diagnosed with Sjogren's syndrome, an autoimmune disease that causes
fatigue and joint pain.
There is no known cure for the disease, but doctors told The Post
it is rarely life-threatening and -- if managed -- shouldn't be
career-ending. The surprising announcement came just hours before her
scheduled second-round match against 22nd-seeded Sabine Lisicki.
"I enjoyed playing my first match here and
wish I could continue, but right now I am unable to," the seven-time
Grand Slam champion said in a printed release. "I am thankful I finally
have a diagnosis and now focused on getting better and returning to the
court soon."
Sjogren's Syndrome is a chronic disorder
that causes insufficient moisture production in certain glands of the
body, according to webmd.com.
As many as four million Americans have the
disease. It occurs when a person's normally protective immune system
attacks and destroys moisture-producing glands, including salivary
glands and tear glands. The lungs, bowel, and other organs also are
occasionally affected.
According to the Sjogren's Syndrome Foundation, white blood cells attack moisture producing glands.
There is no cure, but it can be treated and
controlled, with the goal to decrease discomfort and reduce the harmful
effects of dryness. But medical experts told The Post it's something
that can usually be managed.
"It's usually a disease that's not cureable,
but it usually can be managed. Everybody's a little different; there
could be some fatigue with it, but most patients handle it pretty well,"
said Dr. Stuart Green, a rheumatologist at the Brooklyn Hospital
Center. "Fatigue is not uncommon. It's when you have it you want to
make sure there's nothing else going on, in terms of other associations.
"It's a lifelong illness but there are
medications that help from a pulmonary point of view. Any loss of lung
function, that could be serious. And with a top athlete, the lung
problem would be the other area. I could see her getting a little short
of breath. Someone who's a top athlete really stresses her body. Lung
functions, she may notice it and not be up to her game. Again, that's
hypothetical on my part."
Williams, 31, previously had cited a virus when withdrawing from hard-court tuneup tournaments between Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.