Dec 26, 2009
A wart is a lump on the skin formed when one of the 30 types of papilloma virus invades skin cells and causes them to multiply rapidly. There are several different types of warts. For instance, common warts usually develop around sites where there was an injury; flat warts (accompanied by itching) develop on hands; digitate warts have fingerlike projections; filiform warts develop on eyelids, armpits, and necks; and plantar warts develop on the soles of the feet. Genital warts are pink cauliflower-shaped areas that develop on male or female genitalia. If genital warts form in a woman's cervix, she may be more likely to develop cervical cancer.
Each type of wart is produced by a specific virus. Wart viruses are spread by touch or by contact with the skin shed from a wart.
Sources: The American Medical Association Encyclopedia of Medicine, pp. 1069-70; The American Medical Association Family...
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