half man half tree

It’s fair to say that you’ve never seen anything like this. This Indonesian fisherman named Dede has a rare immune system deficiency that has caused him to grow warts all over his body, which have overtaken his appendages and left him unable to provide for his family.

From the Telegraph UK:

After testing samples of the lesions and Dede’s blood, Dr Anthony Gaspari of the University of Maryland concluded that his affliction is caused by the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), a fairly common infection that usually causes small warts to develop on sufferers.
Dede’s problem is that he has a rare genetic fault that impedes his immune system, meaning his body is unable to contain the warts.
The virus was therefore able to “hijack the cellular machinery of his skin cells”, ordering them to produce massive amounts of the substance that caused the tree-like growths known as “cutaneous horns” on his hands and feet.

But there’s potential good news for Dede. Dr. Gaspari believes that a synthesized form of Vitamin A will halt the growth’s progress, and reduce the larger warts; and with surgery and continued doses of Vitamin A he will, theoretically, be able to use his hands again.

And you thought Treebeard looked cool.

treebeard

Tags: dede | genetic | half man half-tree | hpv | indonesia | tree man | treebeard | treeman | warts

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