Hypertrichosis – commonly called Werewolf Syndrome – is a rare medical condition that leads to excessive body hair growth.
Extreme, or general, hypertrichosis, in which the condition affects the entire body, is especially rare.
Triggered by a genetic mutation, it is believed to affect roughly one in 340 million people. There are thought to be no more than fifty people with hypertrichosis worldwide.
Sufferers have in the past been forced to work in carnival sideshows.
More recently Yu Shenhuan, a Chinese man, has been listed by the Guinness Book of World Records as the hairiest man in the world.
No treatment other than repeatedly cutting the hair has so far been discovered.
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