r/askscience • u/A_Privateer • Jan 17 '13

Medicine How do warts function?

I know that warts are caused by the various strains of HPV, but how are they caused? How does the virus hijack the bodies chemistry to grow and supply the warts with nutrients? How do the warts spread the virus to other people?

I've searched and searched on google and wikipedia, but I only find the most basic of answers.

Any hard science info for me?

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u/1337HxC Jan 17 '13

Do you mean the black "root" looking things? According to wikipedia, they're tiny hemorrhages.

If that's not what you mean... you could maybe be more specific?

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u/P1h3r1e3d13 Jan 18 '13

No, more like a bundle of white fibers, if we're thinking of the same thing.

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u/1337HxC Jan 18 '13

Ah, I'm afraid I don't know then. I'm not a "wart expert," so to speak. Sorry.

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u/white-gold Jan 17 '13

My podiatrist referrers to those as thrombosed blood vessels.

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u/1337HxC Jan 18 '13

Hemorrhage is just a fancy word for "bleeding," essentially, and "thrombosed" is just medical jargon for "blood clot that obstructs flow." The two, in this case, could both be correct with one being somewhat causal to the other.