'Cure' for Indian 'werewolf boy' found

London, November 20 : A cure for an Indian boy with 'werewolf syndrome', a condition which leaves the face and body of the sufferer covered in hair, has been found by Colombia University researchers in New York.

The researchers attribute their groundbreaking work to testosterone injections, which they used on 11-year-old Pruthviraj Patil, one of just 50 people in the world with the rare genetic condition, called hypertrichosis.

The boy had already failed to respond to homeopathy, traditional Indian Ayurvedic remedies, and laser surgery before a worldwide appeal was made to doctors to help him find a permanent cure.

The Columbia University research into Pruthviraj's condition has been filmed as part of a U.S. television documentary called 'My Shocking Story: Real Wolf Kids', reports the Telegraph.

The film followed the lives of a number of hypertrichosis-suffering kids living in Mumbai, India, including Pruthviraj.

Pruthviraj was stared at and bullied throughout his childhood due to the thick matted hair covering his face, and he would rarely leave his home village because of the cruelty of strangers.

At the time of Pruthviraj's birth, some villagers told his mother that she had given birth to a God, some thought that he was a supernatural creature, and some called him a bad omen due to his unique appearance.

However, despite his abnormal hair growth Pruthviraj, who is from the district of Sangli, near Bombay, is healthy, sporty and popular at school.

ANI