What causes Dupuytren's contracture? Dupuytren's contracture is believed to run in families (be hereditary). The exact cause is not known. It may be linked to cigarette smoking, alcoholism, diabetes, nutritional deficiencies, or medicines used to treat seizures.
Dupuytren contracture occurs most commonly after the age of 50. Sex. Men are much more likely to develop Dupuytren than are women. In men, symptoms may be worse and progress more quickly.
Quit Smoking and Reduce Drinking
Smoking can result in microvascular impairment, which could play a role in developing Dupuytren's contracture. Smoking cessation can be an important step early on in the progression of the disease.
Dupuytren disease is a genetic disorder that often is inherited in an autosomal dominant fashion, but is most frequently seen with a multifactorial etiology. It is associated with diabetes, seizure disorders, smoking, alcoholism, HIV, and vascular disease.
Dupuytren's contracture: This form of arthritis causes the tissue beneath the hand to develop nodules in the fingers and palms. These lumps can cause the fingers to stick in place.
We observed a tendency toward changed frequencies of occurrence of central nervous system tumors, laryngeal cancer and non-melanoma skin cancers in DD families. The results of our study indicate a lack of a strong association between Dupuytren disease and familial cancer risk.
In terms of the immunological features of DD, evidence has persistently suggested the involvement of both T and B lymphocytes in DD etiology [7, 38]. As such, the disease has frequently been termed a “T-cell-mediated autoimmune disorder” [6].
It has been claimed that striking success can be gained in the treatment of Dupu'tren's contracture of the palmar fascia by simple oral administration of vitamin E in high dosage. It has been said that, after such treatment, thickening of the fascia disappears anti contracture of the fingers is relieved.
Both alcohol and smoking are frequently mentioned as risk factors for Dupuytren's contracture. “The evidence for smoking is stronger than for drinking, and it makes sense because smoking, like diabetes, decreases blood supply to the hand,” Evans says.
Soft-tissue manipulation and massage can be especially beneficial during the early stages of Dupuytren's contracture. Due to the fact that this is often a progressive condition, there's simply no reason to wait to see if “it gets better” before booking an appointment with a chiropractor to try to manage symptoms.
Most Dupuytren disease starts as a nodule. Some nodules go away without any treatment. Some nodules develop minor cords and then seem to stop.
Dupuytren's contracture can be considered a complication of diabetes and of the local neurovascular changes since both are often associated. The contracture is usually not severe in diabetes, is nodular in form, and usually crushes the palmar surface of the long and ring fingers.
Dupuytren's contracture complications
If left untreated, Dupuytren's contracture can be debilitating. As the condition progresses, it can limit your ability to open your hand fully, grasp small objects, or insert your hands in narrow spaces.
There are no proven ways to prevent Dupuytren's disease or limit its progress.
Dupuytren contracture is usually passed down through generations in families and is the most common inherited disorder of connective tissue. The inheritance pattern is often unclear. Some people who inherit gene changes associated with Dupuytren contracture never develop the condition.
Inflammatory infiltration of palmar tissue from Dupuytren's contracture has been reported by several authors, who concluded that Dupuytren's contracture may be a chronic inflammatory disease.
Exercises are not commonly recommended and are unlikely to prevent contractures. However some patients do report good results, even if for a limited period of time until the condition worsens and they need further treatment.
Dupuytren's contracture most commonly affects the ring and pinky fingers, but all your fingers could be involved. One common finger flexibility exercise is to put your hand down flat on a table and practice spreading all your fingers as far apart as you can and then bringing them back together.
Conclusion: Dupuytren's disease is a disease of unknown etiology. It has association with various conditions. Dupuytren's contracture has increased incidence in chronic liver disease and chronic alcoholism. It is a rare sign and poorly reported.
Dupuytren's contracture mainly affects the ring and little fingers. You can have it in both hands at the same time. It tends to get slowly worse over many months or years.
We found no protective association between rheumatoid arthritis and Dupuytren's disease.
A specific form of Dupuytren's contracture developing as a result of hand trauma has been observed and discussed previously [6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15]. The first publications describing this phenomenon introduced repetitive trauma as a possible cause [7].
Overall, patients with Dupuytren's disease had a significantly increased mortality of 22%. The mortality was highest among those with onset of disease before the age of 60.
XIAFLEX® is the only FDA-approved treatment for Dupuytren's contracture that does not require surgery. A hand specialist will inject this enzyme treatment directly into the cord that's causing limited mobility in the finger. The enzyme releases the cord.
Dupuytren disease is also associated with diabetes, hyperlipidemia, a variety of other medical conditions, increased cancer risk and shortened lifespan.