The girl covered from head to toe in coarse dark hair

21.07.2015 22:00

An eight-year-old girl born with excessive dark hair all over her body is seeking help from charities to fund laser treatment to cure her condition.

Xiaoling, from Guilin City in southern China's Guangxi region, was born with a rare disease known as Hypertrichosis, or Ambras syndrome, which causes an abnormal amount of hair to grow on her body, including her face, since birth.

She is now covered in dark black hair from head to toe and realises she is not the same as other girls of her age.

She cannot swim or wear shorts or dresses, as she often gets teased because of her body hair.

The condition, which is also colloquially known as 'Werewolf syndrome', is not seen as an illness in itself, but is thought to be the body’s response to a more serious medical problem.

But in Xioaling’s case, doctors are not sure what is wrong.

Hypertrichosis is caused by a genetic mutation, in which cells that normally switch off hair growth in unusual areas, like the eyelids and forehead, are left switched on.

While no actual cure for the condition exists, the hair can be removed through bleaching, trimming, shaving, plucking, waxing, chemical depilatories, electrosurgical epilation and hair removal using light sources and lasers.

Permanent hair removal through laser surgery is thought to be the most effective treatment and would allow Xiaoling to live a more normal life.

However, her family cannot afford the cost of the treatment, and hopes to raise money through fundraising.

Only around 34 cases of hypertrichosis have been recorded in the medical literature.

One of the most famous sufferers of the rare disease was Russian Fedor Jeftichew, better known as Jo Jo the Dog-Faced Boy, who toured the United States as a sideshow performer in the late 19th century.

(dailymail.co.uk)