I have taken cod liver oil for 25 years......eaten a balanced diet......and taken plenty of exercise.......I have also hardly touched a drop of alcohol although my Father has an issue.......

When I was diagnosed with LD and dups I had a number of tests which included liver function.......apparently .....I m in good health.......

I believe there are things you can do to slow down progression but .......if it s in your DNA you ll be getting it....

Please keep researching......every bit we do as a community will hopefully get us some sound answers....

All the best

Gazza

It seems to be accepted that there is a genetic predisposition. I see that as meaning I was more likely to develop this condition not that I was fated to get it. As I see it, there must be many factors that need to come together so that the collagen is deposited where it doesn't belong, in my hands. so my genetic predisposition just means that I'm more likely by the numbers to have all those conditions.

At the moment, I've spent a lot of time scrolling around the internet and reading up on dups. But also on plantar fasciitis with bone spurs. Also also on copper poisoning and copper retention since my copper levels are abnormally high. I am in most ways in excellent health. I haven't had a cold or a flu in over five years and am on no medications. So these conditions have sort of stood out in contrast to my over all excellent health and general zest.

And low and behold, liver problems keeps popping up in people with all these conditions. And I was deathly ill with Hep A in my 20's. Then I found out that a damaged liver produces too much of a particular enzyme (alkaline phosphetase) and that high levels of this enzyme are associated with abnormal collagen deposits in other ways. So why not with dups as well? So what if this is a very delicate thing? What if my levels of this enzyme is high but only gets high enough to produce collagen deposits under certain conditions. Then I buy a bottle of wine and drink a couple of glasses every night? Seems harmless but what if this pushes my weak liver into producing more of this enzyme? And some threshold is crossed and more collagen is deposited making the dups progresses a little more?

I've made an appoint to have a blood test done. I want to find out for sure if I have high levels of this enzyme and will let others here know the result. Meanwhile I'm interested in anything that breaks this cycle of the depositing of collagen. ANd encourages the liver to function normally. I'm now dosing myself with green tea.

Juliebeeseley, you mentioned St Mary's thistle and I looked it up. It appears to help the liver. Can you say more about it? How are you taking it and has it affected the dups?

thanks for you all and your input.

I would have to line up with Gary in the teetotaler column. My dad, who is 84, has Dups with one finger slightly contracted and isn't much of a drinker either. I have 5 siblings and am the only one who has developed any Dups yet. Although I'd noticed nodules and dimpling on my palm it really took off two summers ago with contracture of my left pinky. It has now gone to my right pinky and index finger. At the time that I saw so much activity we were doing a lot of remodeling at my son's house. After reading this forum I think it may have been exacerbated by hammering away at ceramic tile while trying to remove it and I was also taking glucosamine at that time. Needless to say I am not taking glucosamine and am much more aware of activities that impact my hands.