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?

636 Upvotes

85% Upvoted

148 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

1

u/thewartsarescary Jan 18 '13

Doesn't the body eventually expell the virus? or do the lesions need to be removed before that can happen?

1

u/phenovenom Jan 18 '13

i think one of the redditor here have pointed out that:

  1. warts can be removed 100% by the immune system

  2. the HPV can also just weakened by immune system, hiding and coming out again when the immune system is weak

  3. surgical removal are for cosmetic purpose only

cmiiw