I've never seen a non-white person with Dupuytren's disease in my practice. Does it ever show up in other ethnic groups?

It does, though perhaps less often. Dupuytren's disease is characterized by the fingers curling into the palm of the hand, due to a shortening of tissues in the palm. This condition is mostly seen in people of northern European descent. It is rarely seen in Asians and blacks. And the disease is practically unknown in India.

Researchers recently looked at cases of Dupuytren's disease in two ethnic groups in northern Norway. The first group was ethnic Norwegians. The second was an aboriginal group called the Sami. Doctors from the region could not recall a single case of Dupuytren's disease among Sami people.

These researchers did find some cases of Dupuytren's disease among Sami. The disease showed up in about eight percent of Sami men. Even so, the disease was more common among ethnic Norwegians (16 percent of Norwegian men). Researchers think the genetic nature of the disease could be causing these patterns.