I recently discovered I have DD, have been reading this board and consequently contacted Dr. Eaton. I'm scheduled for NA in Oct. My husband goes to his urologist yesterday, comes home and tells me he has Peyronies! His warning...men, do not let a wife with DD touch you! Seriously, the Dr. prescribed Vitamin E and said that should "control" it. Anyone think that is likely? I've been researching all of this so much, I'm almost afraid to let him know what I know. Also, his hands seem fine now, but he works with them all day and might lose his profession if his hands developed DD. His massage therapist and chiropractor both have indicated concern that he is developing Frozen shoulder. First I was told I probably wouldn't get this disease from my Dad, since it is usually males who get it and now my husband gets it. Coincidence???

First of all, you need not to worry extremely about your Dupuytren (or potentially your husband's). There are several therapies available (though some possibly not in the US) that can at least stabilize Dupuytren's disease to an extent that the hand remains functional.

Second, the idea that DD is infectious is, well, at least innovative ...

Finally, though it is generally assumed that Peyronie and Dupuytren are basically the same disease that, for whatever reasons, appear at different parts of the body, this is not definite. It is an assumption and probably a wrong one.

Here is a statement from a recent reasearch paper (don't worry about the medical language, the basics are clear). It is a paper from 2001 by a guy named Mohr of the university of ULm, Germany (for those who want to look at it in detail: W. Mohr, Are Peyronie's disease and Dupuytren's contracture similar lesions? Akt Urol, Vol. 32 (2001)p 18-24). Summary (original is in German):

From epidemiological observations and clinical appearance it is assumed that Peyronie's disease and Dupuytren's contracture are similar pathophysiological processes. It was the aim of the study to look for pathogenetic and morphological similarities and differences between both diseases to answer the question if they are comparable lesions. The aetiology of both lesions remains obscure. The basic pathogenetic mechanism of Dupuytren's disease is a focal proliferation of fibroblastic cells in the aponeurotic tissue; inflammatory mechanisms are not involved. For Peyronie's disease it is assumed that it starts with a chronic inflammation of the areolar tissue between corpus cavernosum and tunica albuginea followed by fibrosis. The resulting histopathology reflects the two different pathogenetic mechanisms. Dupuytren's contracture is characterized by dense infiltration of the tendon tissue with fibroblastic cells; the collagen content increases in advanced stages. Peyronie's disease exhibits perivascular inflammatory cellular infiltrations and a fibrous scar-like tissue poor in connective tissue cells. ***From the different pathogenetic and morphological aspects it is deduced that Dupuytren's contracture and Peyronie's disease are dissimilar disease entities.***

Sorry, everyone. I was joking about this being contagious. Just trying to add a little levity to all of this! Sherry