Directory of Dercum Disease Resources

Home > Health > Conditions and Diseases > Skin Disorders > Dercum Disease

Dercum's disease, Dercum disease, Adiposis Dolorosa, Morbus Dercum, Adiposita Dolorosa, Fettvävsreumatism, painful fatty tumors, lipomas, weakness, obesity. This category is about a disease that has been identified for over a hundred years, yet no recent research exists on the cause of it. It was originally named by Dr. Francis X. Dercum in 1892 as adiposis dolorosa. It has since picked up his name as an identifier and both names seem to be equally popular. It generally occurs in women (less 16% are men), between the ages of 25-40 (in Sweden) or 40-65 (in the USA). They cite obesity as a cause, but they have it backwards -- the disease actually causes the obesity -- and weight reduction efforts have little effect on the pain or the obesity. Two articles has attributed it to an autosomal dominant genetic disease, but there is no explanation why it can be benign in some and so debilitating in others. There is no cure, and no easy way to diagnose that a person has this disease. The key(s) are painful fatty deposits (benign lipomas, either encapsulated or diffuse), where the pain has been evident for three (3) months or more. All treatments are palliative -- treat the symptoms -- ease the pain, suction out (via liposuction) or excise the more painful tumors (remember they are benign), and counsel the patient to be able to endure the never-ending pain. Research into the cause or the stimulus that worsens the disease is needed.

Resources in This Category

• Article: Corticosteroid-Induced Juxta-articular Adiposis Dolorosa (Dercum'sDisease)

  http://dercums_data.tripod.com/greenbaum.html
  Article copied from the Archives of Dermatology discusses a case of Dercum's Disease in the knee that was apparently caused by corticosteroid usage.

• Brorson/Fagher article on Dercum's Disease or Adiposis Dolorosa

  http://dercums_data.tripod.com/brorson.html
  This is an article by Drs. Brorson and Fagher on Dercum's Disease. The first part of the article is a biography of Dr. Dercum followed by a detailed description of the disease.

• Dercum's Disease

  http://www.dercum.dk/
  Describes the disease and provides links to other sites.

• Dercum's Disease

  http://dercums_data.tripod.com/
  Discusses the symptoms, personal stories and research that has been done in the study of this disease.

• Dercum's Disease - a frequently overlooked disease picture

  http://dercums_data.tripod.com/jsteiner_article.html
  German researchers present a case report describing methods used to treat the pain associated with this disease -- an overview article by Dr. Johann Steiner.

• eMedicine: Adiposis Dolorosa

  http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1082083-overview
  Provides an overview of diagnosis and clinical features.

• Learning About Dercum Disease

  http://www.genome.gov/17516629
  A National Human Genome Research Institute overview, with links to clinical research.

• Lipomatosis Dolorosa

  http://www.dstressdoc.com/dercum's.htm
  Describes the disease and suggests a possible dietary treatment.

• My Illness

  http://www.nunnie.com/dercums.html
  Personal account of one individual living with Dercum's Disease, and the path she took to diagnosis.

• Wikipedia - Adiposis Dolorosa

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adiposis_dolorosa
  Offers a descriptive article of this rare disease, also known as Ander's disease or Dercum's disease.

• Yahoo! Groups: Dercums Disease

  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dercums_disease/
  Discussion board provides a means of sharing experiences and ideas.

Related Categories

• Home > Health > Conditions and Diseases > Lipomas
• Home > Health > Conditions and Diseases > Nutritional and Metabolic Disorders > Inherited > Madelung's Disease

 

Home > Health > Conditions and Diseases > Skin Disorders > Dercum Disease

 

---

 

Thanks to DMOZ, which built a great web directory for nearly two decades and freely shared it with the web. About us