Rare condition: Thai schoolgirl Nat Sasuphan is one of some thirty people worldwide living with the rare condition of hypertrichosis.
Credit: CORBIS/Barbara Walton
MELBOURNE: According to unreliable sources from medieval Europe, in the light of the full moon, some men transform into howling, hairy, wolf-like creatures.
Is it surprising, then, that sufferers of hypertrichosis – literally 'too much hair' – have ended up being tagged with 'werewolf syndrome'?
In the late 1500s Ulisse Aldrovandi, an Italian naturalist and doctor, wrote about an Austrian family who had excessive body hair. Since that time, fewer than 50 cases have been recorded, so it is as rare as it is remarkable.
Medical oddity
There is no known predilection for ethnicity or gender, although it is thought that of the less than thirty people currently living with the condition, 19 are from one family living in Mexico and the USA.
Werewolf syndrome is associated with the generalised form of hypertrichosis – excessive hair of the face and body, sparing the palms and soles – that occurs at birth, and is thought to be caused by rare genetic mutations of two types. One is caused by an abnormality on chromosome 22 and the other is as yet unidentified.
Milder disorders that cause similar hair growth can develop as a side effect of medications such as phenytoin (an anticonvulsant used in the treatment of epilepsy), cyclosporine (an immunosuppressant), diazoxide (a muscle relaxant), and corticosteroids (often used in the treatment of arthritis).
Hypertrichosis is quite different, however, from hirsutism – a condition that results in male patterns of hair growth in women who produce too much of the male hormones, androgens.
The manifestation of hypertrichosis varies considerably, from mild to severe. Cosmetic management options include bleaching, shaving, depilatory creams, waxing, electrolysis and laser removal.
Popular culture
As with many medical oddities, the syndrome has frequently featured in popular culture in the form of books, films and television series. The first episode of a recent series of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, opens with a man with hypertrichosis found shot dead in his apartment; with a silver bullet of course, because this – like the stake in the heart for vampires – is mythology's advice for dispatching werewolves.
The DeJesus family in Mexico has won the Guinness World Records dubious distinction of being the world's hairiest family. The two most famous family members are Danny and Larry Gomez, who from the ages of six and eight were trained to be acrobats.
They, like seven-year-old Nat Sasuphan in Thailand, have no additional symptoms associated with their hairiness. And it seems they are amazingly well adjusted to their unusual appearance and the reactions of other people.
werewolves:Mexico
how can this happen to us humans i say its mad.H ow can it only happen in the u.s.a little boys and girls just want to have a normal life like the reast of us there may be a day when it happens to be a legend life is hard
thank u
xxxxxxxxx
p.s god bless u all
HEY
I THINK SHE IS STILL BEAUTIFUL
but.......im not saying that!
shes so cute but its not good for a girl to be a were wolf
xxxxx
Is bad
The werewolfs aren`t exist. The lycanthropy is a mental condition. Some people think that when is fullmoon receive some special powers and his behaviour change trasspasing the human been condition to animal attributes like strength, nocturnal vision, better sense of smell and a powerfull sensation. This little girl inherited an unusual condition in her gen code. She´s not abnormal. She´s a girl that want to live like another one girl of his same age. In the middle ages so many people was murdered in the bonfire by fault of religion in the name of god. Notthing diffent comparative whit the nazi holocaust...
Gmork.
Child
This Baby Is Beautiful No Matter What, All Children Are A Blessing From God
Eh.
Werewolves are a myth. This is a medical condition, with nothing to do with the werewolf myth. Really, if you want to know with werewolves and the myth look it up. Actually, all werewolf "myths" are all different according to what you listen to, this is medical, nothing to do with the myth. Okay? And, really it doesn't matter what she looks like. =) she's just fine the way it is. So don't call it a "disease" 'cause it isn't. It's just a medical mutation in her genes. So, really there isn't much to it. Just her DNA got all sdlkfjkdjfldsfs. =)So yes, there is nothing to do with werewolves.
But according to most myths, werewolves are born wolves and do go through many stages, not from man to werewolf like that quick, unless you have the lacanthrope disease. But if you are born a werewolf, you can change at will, and nothing to do with moon phases, if anything the moon phases are what make your stages as a wolf to man, to wolf man. =) but don't quote me.
Well..
Genetics is still a hard thing to completely figure out, oddities happen all around. This is one of them. Our legends are past down because a human or humans see something out of the ordinary, and try to cope with it by making it into something else. in my opinion this girl is not unlucky or begotten with a disease, only having a rarity, in her genetic code.
she is "normal" she doesn't wish to be or anyone with a rarity in their genetics, to be normal, for they already are. WE make them feel abnormal with our comments and criticism. there are some people who need constant blood transfusions to survive. people tag them as vampires. Stop with the names. it does no good but make people feel like dirt. WE are the monsters. Not them.
that is all.