Dercum’s Disease, (Adiposis Dolorosa) A Simple Guide To The Condition, Diagnosis, Treatment And Related Conditions

By Kenneth Kee

This book describes Dercum’s Disease (Adiposis Dolorosa), Diagnosis and Treatment and Related Diseases

Dercum’s disease is a rare disorder that produces painful growths of fatty tissue called lipomas in subcutaneous fat tissue.

It is also known as Adiposis dolorosa, Ander syndrome, adipose tissue rheumatism, adiposalgia, or lipomatosis dolorosa.

This disorder normally involves the torso, upper arms, or upper legs.

Different areas of the body may swell for no apparent cause.

The swelling may vanish without treatment, leaving hardened tissue or pendulous skin tags.

Some doctors have lobbied for a “minimal definition” of Dercum’s disease (adiposis dolorosa), which was recently proposed to include these:
1. Generalized obesity
2. Chronic pain (>3 mo) in the adipose tissue

Criteria for diagnosis

There are 4 cardinal symptoms of Dercum’s disease (adiposis dolorosa), and these remain the standard for diagnosis of classic disease:
1. Multiple, painful, fatty masses
2. Generalized obesity, normally in menopausal age
3. Asthenia
4. Neuropsychiatric disorders, such as emotional instability, depression, epilepsy, confusion, and dementia

Dercum’s disease is anywhere from 5 to 30 times more frequent in women.

Cause

The underlying cause of Dercum’s disease remains unknown.

Possible causes have been indicated, but none have been confirmed.

These have involved long-term treatment with:
1. High-dose corticosteroids;
2. Endocrine system abnormalities;
3. Nervous system dysfunction;
4. Mechanical pressure on nerves, adipose tissue dysfunction;
5. Trauma; and
6. Changes in fatty acid or carbohydrate metabolism.

Researchers have also indicated that it could be an autoimmune disorder which is a disease that produces the immune system to mistakenly attack healthy tissue.

Others believe it is a metabolic disorder related to not being able to properly break down fat.

Since the disorder has rarely happened in more than one person within a family, it may have a genetic component.

No specific gene known to be linked with the disorder has been identified.

The origin of the pain linked with the disorder is also poorly understood.

It is believed that fatty deposits produce nerve compression, resulting in weakness and pain.

Most cases of Dercum’s disease are sporadic (not inherited).

This means that it normally happens in people with no family history of the disorder.

In some of these cases, it seems to have been inherited in an autosomal dominant route.

In these instances, when an affected person has children, each child has a 50% (1 in 2) risk to inherit the gene causing the disorder.

Dercum’s disease is classified into four stages:

I. Generalized diffuse form – a type of disease with diffusely present painful lipomas

II. Generalized nodular form – a type of disease with the evidence of general pain in and in the neighboring tissue of multiple lipomas.

III. Localized nodular form – a type of disease with the present pain in and around the lipomas

IV. Juxtaarticular form – a type of disease with solitary lipomas at the internal parts of the knee.

The most prominent symptoms are:
1. Sleep disorder,
2. Anxiety,
3. Depression,
4. Cognitive impairment,
5. Tachycardia,
6. Respiratory disorders and
7. Gastrointestinal malfunction.

Dercum’s disease is the same as fibromyalgia but with the presence of painful lipomas.

The presence of pain is needed for an adequate diagnosis.

The treatment normally focuses on pain treatment:
Pain relievers
Cortisone
Methotrexate
Interferon alpha

Other treatments are:
Surgical removal of lipomas
Liposuction
Intravenous lidocaine
Cognitive behavioral therapy

TABLE OF CONTENT
Introduction
Chapter 1 Dercum’s Disease

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kenneth Kee
• Release date: Sep 25, 2020
• ISBN: 9781005772888

Kenneth Kee

Medical doctor since 1972.Started Kee Clinic in 1974 at 15 Holland Dr #03-102, relocated to 36 Holland Dr #01-10 in 2009.Did my M.Sc (Health Management ) in 1991 and Ph.D (Healthcare Administration) in 1993.Dr Kenneth Kee is still working as a family doctor at the age of 74However he has reduced his consultation hours to 3 hours in the morning and 2 hours inthe afternoon.He first started writing free blogs on medical disorders seen in the clinic in 2007 on http://kennethkee.blogspot.com.His purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of his patients which is also his dissertation for his Ph.D (Healthcare Administration). He then wrote an autobiography account of his journey as a medical student to family doctor on his other blog http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.comThis autobiography account “A Family Doctor’s Tale” was combined with his early “A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders” into a new Wordpress Blog “A Family Doctor’s Tale” on http://ken-med.com.From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 1000 eBooks.He apologized for typos and spelling mistakes in his earlier books.He will endeavor to improve the writing in futures.Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.The later books go into more details of medical disorders.He has published 1000 eBooks on various subjects on health, 1 autobiography of his medical journey, another on the autobiography of a Cancer survivor, 2 children stories and one how to study for his nephew and grand-daughter.The purpose of these simple guides is to educate patient on health disorders and not meant as textbooks.He does not do any night duty since 2000 ever since Dr Tan had his second stroke.His clinic is now relocated to the Buona Vista Community Centre.The 2 units of his original clinic are being demolished to make way for a new Shopping Mall.He is now doing some blogging and internet surfing (bulletin boards since the 1980's) startingwith the Apple computer and going to PC.The entire PC is upgraded by himself from XT to the present Pentium duo core.The present Intel i7 CPU is out of reach at the moment because the CPU is still expensive.He is also into DIY changing his own toilet cistern and other electric appliance.His hunger for knowledge has not abated and he is a lifelong learner.The children have all grown up and there are 2 grandchildren who are even more technically advanced than the grandfather where mobile phones are concerned.This book is taken from some of the many articles in his blog (now with 740 posts) A Family Doctor’s Tale.Dr Kee is the author of:"A Family Doctor's Tale""Life Lessons Learned From The Study And Practice Of Medicine""Case Notes From A Family Doctor"

Book preview

Dercum’s Disease,

(Adiposis Dolorosa)

A

Simple

Guide

To

The Condition,

Diagnosis,

Treatment

And

Related Conditions

By

Dr Kenneth Kee

M.B.,B.S. (Singapore)

Ph.D (Healthcare Administration)

Copyright Kenneth Kee 2020 Smashwords Edition

Published by Kenneth Kee at Smashwords.com

Dedication

This book is dedicated

To my wife Dorothy

And my children

Carolyn, Grace

And Kelvin

This book describes Dercum’s Disease (Adiposis Dolorosa), Diagnosis and Treatment and Related Diseases which is seen in some of my patients in my Family Clinic.

(What You Need to Treat Dercum’s Disease)

This e-Book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader.

If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy.

Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Introduction

I have been writing medical articles for my blog: http://kennethkee.blogspot.com (A Simple Guide to Medical Disorder) for the benefit of my patients since 2007.

My purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of my patients.

Health Education was also my dissertation for my Ph.D (Healthcare Administration).

I then wrote an autobiography account of my journey as a medical student to family doctor on my other blog: http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.com.

This autobiography account A Family Doctor’s Tale was combined with my early A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders into a new Wordpress Blog A Family Doctor’s Tale on http://kenkee481.wordpress.com.

From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 800 eBooks.

Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.

For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.

The later books go into more details of medical disorders.

The first chapter is always from my earlier blogs which unfortunately tends to have typos and spelling mistakes.

Since 2013, I have tried to improve my spelling and writing.

As I tried to bring the patient the latest information about a disorder or illness by reading the latest journals both online and offline, I find that I am learning more and improving on my own medical knowledge in diagnosis and treatment for my patients.

My diagnosis and treatment capability has improved tremendously from my continued education.

Just by writing all these simple guides I find that I have learned a lot from your reviews (good or bad), criticism and advice.

I am sorry for the repetitions in these simple guides as the second chapters onwards have new information as compared to my first chapter taken from my blog.

I also find repetition definitely help me and maybe some readers to remember the facts in the books more easily.

I apologize if these repetitions are irritating to some readers.

Chapter 1

Dercum’s disease (adiposis dolorosa)

What is Dercum’s disease?

Dercum’s disease is a rare disorder that produces painful growths of fatty tissue called lipomas in subcutaneous fat tissue.

It is also termed adiposis dolorosa.

This disorder normally involves the torso, upper arms, or upper legs.

Dercum’s disease is anywhere from 5 to 30 times more frequent in women.

This wide range is an indication that Dercum’s disease is not well comprehended.

In spite of this lack of knowledge, there is no evidence that Dercum’s disease involves life expectancy.

The main site of lipomas is the knees.

It is more evident in female population than in men, and it is more frequent in