Tree-man disease: history, causes and medical facts. The Tragedy of the Tree Man Kosvare Man turns into a tree
Fate sent Indonesian fisherman Dede Koswara a cruel test. In Indonesia and throughout the world he is known as the “tree man”….
At the age of 15, Dede scraped his knee. From that day his mental and physical torment began. Gradually, strange formations began to appear on the skin. After 10 years, the poor fellow could not go to sea to earn a living. Couldn't do housework. His wife left him, leaving Dede and two children who needed to be fed. And the growths have already spread throughout the body. And he began performing in the circus, in freak shows, flaunting his body disfigured by the disease. In his home village, Dede became the object of cruel jokes, ridicule and constant insults.
Grandfather Koswar was featured in the news all over the world and the Discovery Channel team brought American dermatologist Dr. Anthony Gaspari to Indonesia.
Gaspari found out that the disease was caused by the papilloma virus. This disease is not rare. It usually manifests itself in the appearance of small warts on the body. But Dede had very low immunity, and his body could not resist the virus. According to Gaspari, the cause of the uncontrollable spread of the infection was a genetic mutation that led to a disruption of the antiviral defense mechanisms of the patient’s body.
By personal order of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the country's Ministry of Health formed a team of 18 doctors to treat a man who had fallen victim to a rare disease.
In 2008, Del underwent surgery to remove skin growths. Over the course of 9 months, more than six kilograms of growths were removed. Expensive antiviral therapy was carried out. Over the past ten years, Dede was able to see his fingers and toes for the first time, and pick up a pen. He began to hope for a full recovery. Dede believed that soon people would stop pointing fingers at him, and he would be able to turn from a “white crow” into a “beautiful swan.”
“First of all, I plan to get better and find a job. And then, who knows, maybe I’ll meet a girl and we’ll get married,” said Dede.
However, four months after the series of operations was completed, the warts began to grow again. No miracle happened.
The doctors have rendered their verdict: in all likelihood, it will not be possible to cure the Indonesian once and for all. But they also expressed their willingness to remove the growths twice a year so that the patient could use his arms and legs normally.
For two years, doctors removed rapidly growing thorns from her body from eighteen-year-old Yerevan Narine N.. A total of 140 spines were removed. Head of department
center Garegin BABLOYAN said: “So that there was no doubt, we did a biopsy
at the medical university. Answer from Professor Aznavuryan, Head
Department of Cytology, Embryology and Histology left no doubt - from the body
real cactus thorns were extracted from the patient.
Around 1995, Narine carelessly pricked herself on a cactus, and spores probably got into the wound.
The girl’s immune system was weakened, the spores took root in her body, and
spines began to grow from the body... When the surgeons of the center removed the entire fistula, then
in the cut out fragment, spores were also found, the culprits of all the troubles, on this
the cactus nightmare is over for Narine.”
Something similar happened to a Japanese tourist who, while traveling in the United States, pricked himself on a cactus. A similar case was recorded here in Russia.
Logically, there should be many injured and sick people in those countries where cacti grow. However, local residents never went to hospitals with similar symptoms.
An Indonesian “tree man” whose body is covered with root-like growths has been volunteered to be treated by an American doctor.
A 35-year-old fisherman named Dede injured his knee as a teenager. After this, wart-like “roots” began to grow from his arms and legs. Over time, the growths spread throughout his body and he soon became unable to perform daily household chores.
Lost his job and abandoned by his wife, Dede raised his two children (now teenagers) in poverty, resigned to the fact that local doctors could not help him.
To make ends meet, he even joined a local “panopticon” that showcased victims of specific diseases.
Although he has the help of numerous relatives, he was constantly the subject of bullying and ridicule in his fishing village. But now an American dermatology expert who flew to see Dede claims to have diagnosed his illness and proposed a treatment that could turn Dede's life around. 
After analyzing samples of the growths as well as Dede's blood, Dr. Anthony Gaspari of the University of Maryland concluded that his condition was caused by human papillomavirus (HPV), a common infection that typically causes small warts.
Dede's problem is that he has a rare genetic disorder that prevents his immune system from stopping the growth of these warts. Therefore, the virus was able to “hijack the cellular machinery of his skin cells,” instructing them to produce large amounts of the horny substance that made up the growths on his arms and legs. Dede's white blood cell (WBC) count was so low that at first Dr. Gaspari thought he had AIDS. But tests showed that this is not so.
The most amazing thing is that, forgetting about the growths, Dede was in good health throughout his life, which is not what you would expect from a person with such a suppressed immune system. In addition, neither his relatives nor his children have any growths.
"The chance of having a genetic disorder like his is less than one in a million," says Dr. Gaspari. 
Gaspari believes Dede's disease can be treated with daily doses of a synthetic form of vitamin A, which stops the growth of warts even in severe cases.
"Although he won't have a completely normal body, the warts should reduce in size so that he can use his hands," says Gaspari. "Within three to six months, the warts should reduce in size and number. The most stubborn warts can then be frozen and have it surgically removed. He will live a more normal life."
Dr. Gaspari hopes to receive the necessary medications free of charge from pharmaceutical companies. Indonesian doctors would then be able to administer them to Dede under his supervision.
Intrigued by the causes of Dede's specific immune defect, Gaspari would like to bring him to the United States for further research, but fears that the financial and bureaucratic barriers will prove insurmountable.
"I would like to bring him to the US to run tests to determine the cause of his immune defect, but someone has to cover the cost. I must say that in my entire career I have never seen anything like this," says the doctor. 
In 2008, Dede underwent several surgeries to remove skin tags. He said in an Indonesian hospital: “What I really want is to get better and find a job. And then, someday, who knows? I could meet a girl and get married.” 
Surgical operations significantly alleviated the patient's condition. Over the course of 9 months, more than six kilograms of growths were removed from Dede and expensive antiviral therapy was prescribed. He could use his hands again and even write. 
After operation:
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Abul Bayandar, a 27-year-old man from Bangladesh, known as the new "tree man" due to growths on his arms and legs, he was operated on - surgeons removed the growths. Over the past year, Bayandar has undergone 16 such operations, during which 5 kg of growths were removed.
His disease is called Epidermodysplasia verruciformis - epidermodysplasia verruciformis. This is a hereditary disease characterized by a predisposition to infection of the skin by the human papillomavirus. Its first symptoms appear in childhood.
The growths on the body that look like tree branches are overgrown warts caused by a virus. For Bayandar, they first appeared in adolescence, and after 20 years they began to grow rapidly.
“Now I feel much better,” Bayandar said. “I can hug my daughter and play with her.”
The man's cure became a landmark event in medicine - previously the disease was considered incurable. If the warts do not return, he can be considered the first person to be cured of epidermodysplasia verruciformis.
A 37-year-old resident of the island of Java, Dede Koswara, was taken to an Indonesian hospital due to a painful illness manifested in the pathological growth of warts. The disease was especially severe on Dede’s limbs. It has been tormenting a man for 20 years, but a way to finally overcome the attack has not yet been invented.
X-rays quickly determined that Kosvara's immune deficiency had left his body unable to fight the warts. In addition, the Indonesian suffered from a deadly tuberculosis bacillus that took over his body.
Dr Rahmat Dinata, leader of the team of doctors who took on Dede's case at a hospital in Bandung, West Java, said: "After five years, the patient was dead. He had a lot of active pathogenic bacteria in his lungs. If only he did not seek help and continued to lead a similar lifestyle, with bad food and in such meager quantities, his disease would have spread faster.”
However, intensive treatment allowed Kosvara to overcome the infection. Dr Dinata says: "After three months of treatment, we took an x-ray to check. His lungs were clear."
Dede's sad story began when he was 15 years old. As a result of the accident, he cut his knee. A small wart appeared on his shin, followed by others that began to appear uncontrollably. “Warts started growing everywhere,” Kosvara said.
Eventually, Kosvara, entering adulthood, was no longer able to work in construction. His wife, who had been patient for ten years, left Dede because he could not feed her and their two children together. The Indonesian could not fish, he could not find a new activity at all until he agreed to show himself to others in the circus arena.
The strange case of Dede, who was nicknamed the Tree Man, became famous around the world when the Discovery Channel told the Indonesian man's story in an episode of its documentary series "My Shocking Story" in 2007.
An American dermatologist expert, Dr. Anthony Gaspari, was involved in the filming, who was supposed to deal with Kosvara’s problem. This specialist, representing the University of Maryland, contacted the team of doctors who helped Dede in Bandung.
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It was Gaspari who came to the conclusion that Kosvara's terrible attack was caused by the human papillomavirus, a fairly common infection that usually leads to the growth of just a few warts.
Due to an extremely rare immunodeficiency that left Dede's body virtually defenseless, the virus "took control of the cellular machinery of his skin cells." The body began to produce huge amounts of the substance, which turned into tree-like growths known as “skin horn”.
Dr. Dinata made it clear that Kosvara's immunodeficiency is so severe that it would be easy for Kosvara to contract any infectious disease. Dinata says, "He looks like an HIV patient, but he is HIV negative. Because his immune system is so weak, other infections can easily enter his body. We have to be extra careful if we have the flu... ".
During surgery to remove the growths, most of the tumors were removed from Dede's body, including about 1.8 kg of wart-like tissue from his legs alone. His hands are still massive lumps, but now, for the first time in more than ten years, he can do something with them.
Kosvara enjoys solving Sudoku puzzles. It may take him several days to solve just one puzzle, but this has nothing to do with the level of difficulty of the puzzle. The remaining growths on his hands prevent Dede from using a pen skillfully.
The Indonesian says: “If all the growths are in the past, I want to go back to work. If I had the starting capital, I would open my own small business in my village, where I would sell everything I could.”
When the man was asked if he had a desire to find his love again and live in marriage, he answered with a smile on his face: “Yes, I would like to get married again.”
Back in the winter, I accidentally saw on the Discovery Channel a program from the series “My Horrible Story” about Indonesian fisherman Dede Koswar(Dede Koswara), who received the nickname " tree man” (tree man) or " root man” (root man). I decided to find out more about him, although photos of this man had already appeared on the RuNet.
37 years, lives in distant Indonesia on the island of Java. At the age of 15, after cutting his knee, he began to show signs of an unknown illness - the body began to become covered with growths similar to wood. The process progressed steadily, and at the age of 25, Dede could no longer fish. From now on, he could make a living only by showing himself to others in the circus arena.Unknown Dede disease gained fame after reports in the British press in 2007, and the Discovery Channel soon made a film from the series “My Shocking Story”. An American came to Indonesia to study a new disease Doctor Gaspari from the University of Maryland. Dr. Gaspari found that warts are caused by a common worldwide human papillomavirus, which usually results in small warts. But Dede had a very rare immune system defect(extremely low levels of a special type of white blood cell), which prevented the body from suppressing the spread of the virus. As a result, massive tree-like growths known as “dermal horns” began to appear on the body.
Indonesian experts have suggested that a mysterious immune defect may only be present in 200 people worldwide. Telegraph.co.uk reported that Indonesian officials were initially concerned about the unauthorized collection of blood and tissue samples from a patient, but the matter was later resolved.
In 2008 Dede were held several surgeries to remove skin tags. He said in an Indonesian hospital: "What I really want is to get better and find a job. And then, someday, who knows? I might meet a girl and get married."
Dede Koswara at the clinic
Surgical operations significantly alleviated the patient's condition. In 9 months Dede had more than six kilograms of growths removed and expensive antiviral therapy was prescribed. He could use his hands again and even write.
After operations
The latest news about the state of Dede Koswara that I was able to find on Google News was dated December 22 and 29, 2008. It was reported that the growths have resumed their growth and grew by a third, which again deprived him of the use of his hands. In the near future, Dede will have 2 more operations to remove warts. Doctors did not rule out that in the future surgical interventions will have to be carried out twice a year.
==========================For reference ==========================
Human papillomavirus(HPV, papillomavirus infection) is widespread throughout the globe and is transmitted through sexual (more often) and household (less often) routes, as well as during childbirth from mother to child. More 90% of people who are sexually active are infected with one (or several) types of papilloma virus. A viral infection does not manifest itself in any way in people with a good immune system, but with a decrease in immunity it can cause various benign and, less often, malignant formations on the skin and mucous membranes.
The process of papillomas formation
Various subtypes of HPV (more than 65 are known) cause various skin tumors:
- warts on the skin;
- genital warts and papillomas on mucous membranes (found in 1/3 of women of reproductive age during routine examinations);
- increase the risk cervical cancer(60 times!) and other genital organs. In this plan most dangerous genital warts on the cervix in women or on the head of the penis in men. Condylomas in other places do not pose an oncogenic danger and cause mostly cosmetic inconvenience.
Warts on the finger
Genital warts on the penis
