On the origin and spread of Dupuytren's disease.

The first author to suggest an origin and spread of Dupuytren's disease was Early who wrote in 1962, "If one postulates the condition as having arisen in one particular racial group (the Nordic for example) then the variable distribution in other parts of the world might be explained on the basis of migration from that group." Dupuytren's disease is currently called a Viking disease on the assumption that the disease was spread to Europe and the British Isles during the Viking Age of the 9th to the 13th centuries. From a literature search, it is proposed that Dupuytren's disease existed in Europe earlier than the Viking Age and originated much earlier in prehistory.