The Ambras syndrome and hypertrichosis occurs when someone has abnormally excessive body hair. The entire body is covered with fine body hair except the palms, soles and genitalia on an individual with Ambras syndrome. On hypertrichosis patients only have fine hair on their face, nose, ear, and shoulders. The hair could be as long as several centimeters.

Hypertrichosis is believed to be inherited, but is still unknown. Hypertrichosis was once thought to be an example of atavism, which is the recurrence in a animal of certain primitive characteristics, and at one time was thought to be the missing ape-human association needed to prove Darwin’s theory. In two cases, Ambras syndrome was found associated with the complex rearrangements of chromosome 8. Both have been found to have an autosomal dominant pattern of inheritance. Hypertrichosis can occur until the average age of 2. Ambras Syndrome has increased hair growth throughout their lifetime.

In the United States, both of these diseases are extremely rare, but internationally there have been fewer than 50 cases found.  Researchers found in a large Mexican family with X-linked congenital genetic hypertrichosis the first genetic locus for human hypertrichosis was identified by a common relation analysis. There is a 1 in a billion chance that you can get Ambras syndrome. There are few treatments for Ambras syndrome and hypertrichosis but some have used laser hair removal, vaniqa cream, repeated shaving, and some chemical methods. For years these people have been seen mostly on the hit TV shows Ripley’s Believe It or Not.

Works cited

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1072987-overview

http://health.howstuffworks.com/diseases-conditions/rare/10-bizarre-medical-conditions.htm

The American Journal of Human Genetics, Volume 88, Issue 6, 10 June 2011, Pages 819–826 doi: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2011.05.004