Can Females Get 'Tree Man Syndrome'? Bangladeshi Girl May Have Disease That Previously Affected Only Men
Tree Man Disease — a lso known as Epidermodysplasia verruciformis — gets its name from the bark-like warts that grow all over a sufferer’s body. It is extremely rare, but previous cases of the syndrome have affected only men.
Sahana Khatun, a 10-year-old girl in Bangladesh, is suspected to be the world’s first female with the disease. About four months ago, her father noticed a bark-like wart on her face. After they started to consume more of her face, Khatun’s father brought her to the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka to get a diagnosis, the BBC reported.
The illness is thought to be caused by a person’s poor immune system response to the common infection HPV (Human papilloma virus). The genetic disease produces scaly, bark-like growths, which usually affect the hands and feet.
Doctors hope Khatun’s case may be less severe, and her father shares their hope.
"We are very poor. My daughter lost her mother when she was only six. I really hope that the doctors will remove the barks from my beautiful daughter's face," her father, Mohammad Shahjahan, told AFP.
Last month, Bangladesh’s Adul Bajandar, 27, another sufferer of Epidermodysplasia verruciformis, regained the use of his hands after 16 surgeries spanning an entire year, Medical Daily previously reported.
The growths on Bajandar's hands weighed about 11 pounds before being removed, and he was unable to touch his wife and child for a decade, according to the BBC.
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