They say its a hereditary disease...they also say its more prevalent among men...people who consume alcohol...of Viking descent...
people with diabetes, etc. etc...

I am a woman...I'm 67 and the first in my family that developed DD... I don't drink...am not diabetic...and definitely not of Viking descent... this disease is "weird"...no rhyme or reason. But, I did fall on my right hand and developed a cord and a bent pinkie finger in that hand shortly after that... so I believe that the fall could have caused it ?? I later developed Dupuytrens in my other hand and also Ledderhose ... would there be some "hidden predisposition" that I don't know about ?? I guess its possible your surgery was cause to the progression...

Edited 08/30/10 17:16

I don't drink. My heritage is decidedly not Viking. I did not have a fall. I do not do much if anything in the way of manual labor. I'm not diabetic. No one else in my family past or present has/had DD as far as I am aware. I am male though (guilty!). And do have DD.

In the previous posts I have mentioned a paper on the relationship between rock climbing and dupuytrens ( http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1725323/ ), despite being difficult to prove scientifically, based on my personal experience I believe there to be a strong link between trauma and dupuytren's contracture.

In addition, despite having successful RT treatment 10 years ago I occasionally get symptoms of active DD - aching and itchy hands and feet. These appear to correlate strongly with injuries elsewhere, most commonly pain from my knees (torn menisci) i.e. as a result of causing damage to my knees, something in my body triggers a mending process which as a side effect triggers the symptoms of active DD. My personal feeling is that my autoimmune system reacting to damage to my knees, also accidently triggers my DD. What I am trying to say, in my personal experience, signals within my body attempting to mitigate damage to my cartilage also impact the collagen in my hands and feet.

I have also noticed from other postings on this forum that other patients appear to be able to determine whether DD is active from the itchy/creeping/aching feelings in their hands and feet. I feel that these symptoms have not been captured in any sense by the scientific community as an indicator of active DD, they in general rely on more objective measures like the rate of change of staging of contractures (and nodules). I am personally critical of this reliance on more quantitative evidence, rather than a patients more qualitative feelings. Greater use of these more qualitative diagnoses would help in determining for early stage DD patients whether to treat the patient with RT.

I would be interested if any other forum readers have had experience with trauma elsewhere in their bodies triggering DD ‘activity’ (the itchy/creeping/aching) in hands or feet?

As an aside I have been using Vitamin E tablets (800 ui/day) to suppress the DD symptoms when they are triggered - I was recommended taking Vitamin E for 3 months following RT treatment in Munich. I think the theory is that Vitamin E’s antioxidant properties suppress free radicals and thus suppress DD activity. I am aware that although this has been discussed scientifically nothing has been proven. I would be interested if my personal experience strikes a resonance with anyone else on the forum?

Itchy palms... never really had that as a D symptom since I recognized it in me, but did have Coxsackie-A virus as an adult about 15 years ago. Symptom was unbelievable itchy palms. Can't say that's when the first D symptoms started, but it was around then.

Philip,

RT isn't preventive, is only good for treating already existing Dupuytren's sites. If you are susceptible for Dupuytren's disease it can start new anywhere at any time and RT can't prevent this. That's actually one of the reasons why you shouldn't radiate areas with no Dupuytren's: you might need to radiate that sometimes later.

Trauma: I had very aggressive growth of new Dupuytren's nodules after Dupuytren's surgery and those new nodules appeared outside the operated area, i.e. it was not recurrence after surgery but extension of the disease and it started within about 4-6 weeks. I also experienced mild activation of my Dupuytren's after a thyroid surgery.

Vitamin E: there is little to no evidence that Vitamin E helps against Dupuytren's. Some time ago it was believed it does but that's no longer so. You might also have a look at http://www.dupuytren-online.info/dupuytren_anecdotal.html.

Wolfgang

PhilipHa1:

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...
In addition, despite having successful RT treatment 10 years ago I occasionally get symptoms of active DD - aching and itchy hands and feet. These appear to correlate strongly with injuries elsewhere, most commonly pain from my knees (torn menisci) i.e. as a result of causing damage to my knees, something in my body triggers a mending process which as a side effect triggers the symptoms of active DD. ...

...
I would be interested if any other forum readers have had experience with trauma elsewhere in their bodies triggering DD ‘activity’ (the itchy/creeping/aching) in hands or feet?

As an aside I have been using Vitamin E tablets (800 ui/day) to suppress the DD symptoms when they are triggered - I was recommended taking Vitamin E for 3 months following RT treatment in Munich. I think the theory is that Vitamin E’s antioxidant properties suppress free radicals and thus suppress DD activity. I am aware that although this has been discussed scientifically nothing has been proven. I would be interested if my personal experience strikes a resonance with anyone else on the forum?

Edited 09/01/10 09:40