Indonesian known as 'tree man' dies due to rare disease

Dede Koswara, 42-years-old Indonesian known as the 'tree man' due to disease which left him with branch-like warts, died on January 30, 2016, in Badung, Indonesia.

Koswara, who suffered from a rare, incurable disease which caused huge growths (on his body), had always hoped to live until a cure was found for the disease and return to his profession, carpentry.

As per the reports, the disease was so severe that his hands and feet were covered in more than 13lbs of warts. The growths on his body continued regrowing even after multiple treatments to remove the same.

Listed are five of the very rare diseases you should definitely know about:

Hypertrichosis
Hypertrichos is a condition where there is an abnormal amount of hair growth over the body. It is known as human werewolf syndrome because the appearance of the patient is similar to the werewolf. It is not inherited but possibly is the result of a spontaneous genetic mutation.

Epidermodysplasia Verruciformis
Epidermodysplasia Verruciformis, colloquially known as tree man illness, is an extremely rare genetic hereditary skin disorder associated with a high risk of carcinoma (a type of cancer) of the skin. The disease is characterised by eruptions of wart-like lesions. It can occur anywhere on the body. The disease is caused by infection with a type of human papillomavirus (HPV). No treatment for this disease has been found out as yet.

Progeria
Progeria or Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome is an extremely rare genetic disorder. The symptoms of progeria can be seen in children at a very early age. Children start resembling old men in appearance even before they are two years of age.

Elephantiasis
Elephantiasis is an indication of a variety of diseases, where parts of a person's body swell to massive proportions. The disease is an obstruction of lymphatic vessels which causes extreme swelling of skin and tissues, typically in the legs. Over 40 million people have been affected by the condition.

Argyria
Argyria is a syndrome caused by exposure to silver or to silver dust. In this disease the skin turns blue or bluish-grey. It consists of generalised argyria or local argyria. Generalized argyria affects large areas while local argyria appears on limited regions of the body. The people who are prone to this disease are those who inhale silver or its dust in large quantities over a long period of time.

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