Doctors have been treating Dupuytren disease since the early 1800s. Progress has been made in developing procedures to treat Dupuytren contracture, but no real breakthroughs have been made to prevent Dupuytren contracture. It’s difficult to get good data on preventative treatment because Dupuytren contracture progresses slowly and unpredictably. It’s also difficult because we still don’t know what the primary cause is, how the biology goes off course in the first place. It’s common for smart, innovative people to look into the problem, find some clues, and conclude that it’s worth trying a nutritional supplement, topical medication, lifestyle change, exercise program or other nontraditional treatment. This kind of thinking should be encouraged, because current established treatment options have problems and are not a cure.
Over the years, people have had many ideas to prevent Dupuytren contracture in people who have Dupuytren disease: N-acetyl-L-cysteine, Reflexology, DMSO, Vitamin E, SSKI, Magnesium oil, Vitamin D, and others for preventative treatment of Dupuytren disease. Some may be on the right track, but the only data that currently exists is anecdotal, not scientific.
These are options which deserve further investigation. The frustrating issue is that it’s difficult to prove the effectiveness of any new preventative treatment without a large scale long term study. That’s why the International Dupuytren Data Bank research project (DupStudy.com) was developed – to follow up on leads, leaving no stone unturned. If you have an idea for a treatment that you’d like to be added to the IDDB project for study, contact us and share your thoughts!
What do you think future research should address?