Human Papilloma Virus
The human papillomavirus (HPV) is the primary cause of skin tags. When a person contracts HPV, the virus travels to the skin cells, where it inserts its DNA into the cell’s nucleus. The body’s immune system attacks this foreign DNA and forms a wart where the infection occurs. Of all people with warts, over 60 percent were found to have HPV.
In addition to causing warts, some strains of HPV can cause cervical cancer in women and genital cancers in both men and women. These are called “high-risk” strains because they have been proven to cause human cancer. Furthermore, 20 percent of all cancers worldwide are caused by viruses—a number that will increase as genetic testing becomes more common. The good news is that doctors know that anyone can prevent many viral diseases through vaccines and treatment (such as HPV).
