WOLF BOY'S HOPE (Columbia U. Dr. may have discovered cure to 'Werewolf Syndrome')

The New York Post ^ | November 20, 2008 | JEREMY OLSHAN

[Stoat]

It's not easy being a preteen "wolf boy" - but scientists at Columbia University are confident they've finally found the silver bullet that can cure one.

Pruthviraj Patil, 11, suffers from a rare genetic disorder known as hypertrichosis - or "werewolf syndrome" - which causes a thick coat of hair to grow over every inch of his body except his palms and feet.

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When he was born in a village near Mumbai, his mother was told she had given birth to a god, but in school, there have been more bullies than believers.

Christiano and her colleagues at Columbia are using injections of testosterone to stem the growth of hair.

Ironically, the breakthrough stems from Christiano's research into baldness. A dermatologist and geneticist, she's a pioneer in the field who actually discovered a gene associated with hair loss.

The disease is believed to be genetic and not caused by a hormonal imbalance. From birth, all humans have some amount of body hair, but this rare mutation causes it to grow out of control.

"There is no known genetic cause. Usually, the parents are normal, so it's quite a surprise when a child is born with this syndrome," Christiano said.

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Pruthviraj has just started the promising treatment, and it's too early to tell its long-term effects, but the doctors are hopeful it will do the trick.

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Disorders involving excessive hair growth may have supplied carnival sideshows worldwide, but experts say "werewolf syndrome" is almost never seen.

The majority of the known cases are centered in South Asia, experts said.

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[bert]

.....his rare mutation causes it to grow out of control.....

More likely, the hirsute facial gene is a legacy that was mutated eons ago into near hairless gene set that prevails in Homo sapiens today.

Evolution did away with the heavy facial hair

[MissCalico]