"Tree Man Syndrome" by George Qiao
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Abstract

Imagine a condition in which lesions that grow on your appendages are so severe that you cannot use your hands and feet properly. Moreover, these lesions are large and painful, and prevent you from being able to perform daily activities. Surgery, a common answer for this condition, can temporarily control the growths, but the lesions continue to grow back after each surgical operation. Currently, there is no cure, and the treatments only offer a temporary fix. Therefore, you are faced with a lifelong condition that severely limits your ability to live a normal life. Though there are many debilitating diseases, few of them are not given much attention. For example, one extremely rare disease is Epidermodysplasia verruciformis (EV), or tree man syndrome, characterized by bark-like warts growing on the body. Although the exact number of cases of EV is uncertain, about 200 cases in the world have been reported thus far.

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