What is Dupuytren disease? After passing the first hurdle of pronouncing Dupuytren (DOOpa-tren: sort of rhymes with “hooka den”, “group of friends” “move again” “super bend”…), most people – doctors and patients alike – have trouble answering this question. Most doctors don’t give a simple answer. Instead, they often just describe some part of the problem. […]

Does Dupuytren cause nerve problems? A common topic of discussion on Dupuytren forums such The Dupuytren’s Disease Support Group is whether or not Dupuytren causes numbness and tingling in the hands and arms. As with everything Dupuytren related, the answer is …it depends. A few small studies suggesting that local tenderness in Dupuytren cords, nodules, […]

Thirteen years ago, a doctor had bad Dupuytren contractures. He had been told that he needed surgery if he wanted to straighten his fingers. He didn’t want to take time off his practice for what might be a lengthy recovery after traditional surgery. He found a hand surgeon who was doing needle aponeurotomy – which had […]

Dupuytren Awareness Dupuytren disease research has a big problem: lack of awareness. Most people have never heard the word “Dupuytren”, much less “Dupuytren Disease”. The name “Dupuytren” is hard to pronounce and even harder to spell. Many other medical conditions have had this problem. Most have still not made it out into public. It takes work, […]

I was recently asked if medical marijuana might be helpful for Dupuytren disease. The short answer is “No one knows.”. The longer answer is much more interesting. The late effect of Dupuytren disease is Dupuytren contracture. The medical term for the findings in Dupuytren contracture is fibrosis. Sclerosis also means the same thing. If either of […]

Two Dupuytren stories for this Valentine’s Day. First, Saint Valentine. There were nearly a dozen people called Saint Valentine. Did this one have Dupuytren Contracture? He’s clearly in the high risk demographic – an old Caucasian man. Looks like he’s got it, but we’ll never know. It is important to know that there’s a lot […]

Improving the Future of Dupuytren Care Right now, many people with mild Dupuytren biology do well after surgery or after Xiaflex – because most people have mild to moderate Dupuytren biology. The issue isn’t the patient with mild disease biology who will do well for a long time after any treatment. The issue is those […]

Turkey Day Update! Much has happened since the last Dupuytren Foundation report in July. The International Dupuytren Data Bank (IDDB) averages 100 new enrollees each month. We’re continuing to work out the complicated details of blood testing. If you haven’t enrolled yet, now is the time: http://DupStudy.com. Our international research committee continues to grow. So does […]

Dupuytren disease research questions and answers. Dupuytren advocacy is challenging. One challenge is that many people have never heard the words Dupuytren, or Ledderhose, or Peyronie, including many who have these problems. A larger challenge is that no one knows the root biology of Dupuytren/Ledderhose/Peyronie disease – how it starts, or how to make it […]