The Skin Disease That Turns People Into Trees

The wart-like lesions typically appear within the first 20 years of the person's life, often being misdiagnosed as medical professionals usually lack knowledge about this skin disease. Approximately 61.5% have full blown symptoms of this skin disorder between the ages of 5 and 11 years of age. No race or gender is particularly susceptible, so all people have an equal chance of getting this disorder. It is linked to those who already have autoimmune deficiencies such as those related to AIDS, HIV or organ transplantation.

Approximately 80% of the world population have HPV in their system, but the infectious strain does not become active most of the time. For those who have their immune system depressed, these strains of HPV can get out of control, causing the warts to proliferate. HPV is more widely known to cause the same wart like lesions on the cervix in women who are promiscuous – as some HPV strains are sexually transmitted. For other HPV strains, the path of transmission is through familial ties and/or blood.

A majority of this skin disorder's warts can be found on the person's extremities and have been likened to tree roots because of their appearance. Even if the warts are cut off, as was the case with a man who had 13 pounds of warts sliced away during surgery, the warts will grow back within six month's time. These expensive surgical procedures are risky, time consuming, and take weeks to recover from. However, surgery is the only remedy as there is no cure or prevention known at this time.

According to this site, this disorder can be communicable, as some HPV strains are sexually transmitted, some are blood transmitted, while others are inherited.

It is thought that there have been only 200 cases of people with the disorder ever recorded. Of those that had this skin disorder, some were renal transplant patients, some were dialysis patients, and others just inherited the disorder without any evasive or traumatic medical problems occurring in their lives.

Sun exposureaggravates this skin disorder. These warts, which have white spots and are pityriasis versicolor-like, have 15 different types of HPV strains, typically. Incredibly, there are over 70 different types of HPV strains documented thus far. The disorder has also been positively linked to Bowen's Disorder as well. People with this skin disorder complain of burning in their skin regularly. The likelihood of someone with this disorder developing cancer is 50% and the cancer is most likely to develop in their 40s or 50s.

In 2008, a 35-year-old man named Dede Koswara was featured in a Discovery Channel special that highlighted facts on this bizarre skin disorder. Though he was successful in having five pounds of warts removed from his body, the warts aggressively returned within a few months. People with this condition typically have to have surgical removal of warts every six months for the rest of their lives in order to lead a full and productive life. To learn more about Dede Koswara, click here.

Those suffering from this disorder no doubt have even worse psychological effects from it. Divorce and loss of viable income is typical.

To learn more about this disorder, please click here and here.

Thanks to Mark Allen for allowing me permission to post these awesome pictures!