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Half Man, Half Tree - All Curiosity
Curiosity. That's why carnival sideshows attract people. They hook you with something so bizarre, so unbelievable that you cannot walk away. Good news, we're not talking about two-headed goats; rather a medical curiosity involving a very common condition complicated by very rare genes.
This is Dede, a 35 year-old fisherman living in remote Indonesia.
Besides the numerous large plaques on his skin Dede 's extremities have developed large, claw-like growths. It kinda reminds me of the Wolverine character from the fictional X-Men.
An American TV production company arranged for Dede to receive on site consultation from Dr. Anthony Gaspari, an expert dermatologist from the University of Maryland School of Medicine (pictured alongside Dede).
After an examination and some lab studies Dr. Gaspari confirmed that Dede has an unusual (and untreated) case of runaway warts. Yes, warts!
Here's what happened. Like all of us, at some point earlier in life Dede came in contact with human papilloma virus (HPV), the ubiquitous virus responsible for the common skin wart (official terminology verruca vulgaris). Most of the time folks get one wart at a time, right? Dede, however, is different than most other people. Because of a serious genetic defect Dede's immune system was unable to defend his skin from the proliferating virus and so it showered his complete body with those large, ugly bumps.
Leave a wart alone long enough and the infected skin cells start making keratin, the same material that makes your fingernails rigid. We call these growths 'cutaneous horns'. In time they become large, curly appendages. Years of neglect resulted in the hideous appearance of Dede's extremities. As you can imagine, the worse the growths got, the more society rejected him, leaving him with a lonely life and the option to work in a circus side show.
Liquid nitrogen won't help much here. This is going to need a world-class manicure and pedicure! Dr. Gaspari is optimistic that high doses of Vitamin A will fire-up Dede's skin so it will eventually shed the horns and allow the skin to rid itself of HPV. Additional surgery can help Dede regain use of his hands and feet. Things should be much improved in about a year.
As an ophthalmologist I would caution Dede to be very careful whenever taking lots of Vitamin A because it can be toxic to the retina. Periodic blood measurements and color vision testing are good ways to monitor for any toxicity. Certain strains of HPV can provoke sun-induced skin changes that can transform into malignant squamous carcinoma. Given his tropical locale Dede ought to be applying lots of sunblock throughout the day.
I'll be eager to see how Dede responds to treatment. Audiences love extreme makeovers. Hopefully the TV crew will return to Dede's village to capture his recovery and return to his society.
Related Topics: Technorati Tags: HPV, Vitamin A, warts, genetics, Dede, vision
Photo courtesy of Discovery Channel and Dr. Gaspari. Used with permission
Besides the numerous large plaques on his skin Dede 's extremities have developed large, claw-like growths. It kinda reminds me of the Wolverine character from the fictional X-Men.
An American TV production company arranged for Dede to receive on site consultation from Dr. Anthony Gaspari, an expert dermatologist from the University of Maryland School of Medicine (pictured alongside Dede).
After an examination and some lab studies Dr. Gaspari confirmed that Dede has an unusual (and untreated) case of runaway warts. Yes, warts!
Here's what happened. Like all of us, at some point earlier in life Dede came in contact with human papilloma virus (HPV), the ubiquitous virus responsible for the common skin wart (official terminology verruca vulgaris). Most of the time folks get one wart at a time, right? Dede, however, is different than most other people. Because of a serious genetic defect Dede's immune system was unable to defend his skin from the proliferating virus and so it showered his complete body with those large, ugly bumps.
Leave a wart alone long enough and the infected skin cells start making keratin, the same material that makes your fingernails rigid. We call these growths 'cutaneous horns'. In time they become large, curly appendages. Years of neglect resulted in the hideous appearance of Dede's extremities. As you can imagine, the worse the growths got, the more society rejected him, leaving him with a lonely life and the option to work in a circus side show.
Liquid nitrogen won't help much here. This is going to need a world-class manicure and pedicure! Dr. Gaspari is optimistic that high doses of Vitamin A will fire-up Dede's skin so it will eventually shed the horns and allow the skin to rid itself of HPV. Additional surgery can help Dede regain use of his hands and feet. Things should be much improved in about a year.
As an ophthalmologist I would caution Dede to be very careful whenever taking lots of Vitamin A because it can be toxic to the retina. Periodic blood measurements and color vision testing are good ways to monitor for any toxicity. Certain strains of HPV can provoke sun-induced skin changes that can transform into malignant squamous carcinoma. Given his tropical locale Dede ought to be applying lots of sunblock throughout the day.
I'll be eager to see how Dede responds to treatment. Audiences love extreme makeovers. Hopefully the TV crew will return to Dede's village to capture his recovery and return to his society.
Related Topics: Technorati Tags: HPV, Vitamin A, warts, genetics, Dede, vision
Photo courtesy of Discovery Channel and Dr. Gaspari. Used with permission
