Nguyen Van Son was nicknamed Tree Man due to his disease of uncontrolled warts over his hands and feet. — Photo infonet.vn

The 48-year-old man from Ninh Binh Province said that his illness started when he was 10 when small warts appeared on his soles and gradually spread to his hands.

The growth of scaly warts over 40 years of Son’s life debilitated and distorted his hands and feet, preventing the proper use of his limbs. He could only move slowly, and painfully, by walking on his knees.

Son and his mother, Nguyen Thi Det, travelled to various hospitals and doctors seeking hope of a treatment, but nothing worked.

Dermatologist Le Anh Tuan said that Son was suspected of suffering from Lewandowsky-Lutz dysplasia, a disease which results in uncontrolled human papilloma virus (HPV) infections and growth of scaly warts.

Doctors are yet to find cure for this extremely rare genetic condition. VNS

Chi Lan