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Newborn baby shocks family with incredible thick hair due to rare condition

A newborn baby has gone viral thanks to his extraordinary thick head of hair.

Jaxon-James Ayers was born eight weeks premature with "surprisingly" luscious locks.

His hair has continued to grow at an accelerated rate on both his head and across the rest of his body.

Now he's three months old, his mum Shannon Ayres says she's proud to show off her son, but has been left stunned by the scale of the reaction after sharing pictures on him on social media.

Shortly after being born, Jaxon-James was diagnosed with a rare congenital condition called hyperinsulinism that affects around one in 50,000 newborn babies.

To keep his sugar levels in a healthy state, he must have regular feeds and the medication Diazoxide.

But a side effect of this is hair growth which has led to the tot having much more hair on his head than an average baby boy.

Read more: Baby born with thick hair and mum claims she's 'never lost any' as it keeps getting thicker

Jaxon-James was born with a thick head of hair. (SWNS)
Jaxon-James was born with a thick head of hair. (SWNS)

“Jaxon-James was born eight weeks premature, so we were very surprised that he had so much hair," his mum, who lives in Northern Ireland, explains.

“Hyperinsulinism affects about one in 50,000 babies. His pancreas produces too much insulin which causes his sugar levels to be extremely low and to keep his sugar levels up he has regular feeds and a medication called Diazoxide.

“The side effect to Diazoxide is hair growth, which is why the hair has grown really quickly. He has hair on his arms and legs as well.

Watch: Baby girl has so much hair people think it's a wig.

Ayres says strangers are always shocked when they see her son and the amount of hair he has.

"Some people joke that he will be ready for a haircut soon," she adds.

Read more: Girl with Uncombable Hair Syndrome is finally able to have her hair brushed after nine years

The baby suffers from a rare condition called hyperinsulinemia. (SWNS)
The baby suffers from a rare condition called hyperinsulinemia. (SWNS)
Jaxon-James was born eight weeks premature. (SWNS)
Jaxon-James was born eight weeks premature. (SWNS)

The new mum says she started sharing pictures of her son on social media just after he was born.

"I feel like any other parent that has just had a newborn, I feel proud and wanted to show him off to the world," she says.

“I really didn’t expect for any of my content to go viral, but people were so surprised by his hair.

"Like anything on social media you have to expect the bad with the good. I sometimes get accused of drawing on his eyebrows and using a filter for his hair.

"I honestly found this funny," she says.

"But overall the reactions have been lovely."

Read more: Mum proud of 'little fighter' whose birth defect means he was born with one arm and no legs

Mum, Shannon Ayres has been surprised bout the attention Jaxon-James gets because of his locks. (SWNS)
Mum, Shannon Ayres has been surprised bout the attention Jaxon-James gets because of his locks. (SWNS)

What is hyperinsulinemia?

According to diabetes.co.uk hyperinsulinemia is often associated with type 2 diabetes, but isn't diabetes as such.

Hyperinsulinemia means that the amount of insulin in the blood is higher than considered normal amongst people without diabetes.

"When a person has hyperinsulinemia they have a problem controlling blood sugar, meaning that the pancreas has to secrete larger amounts of insulin to keep blood sugar at a normal level," the site explains.

Although the condition doesn't always have clear indicators, symptoms can include:

  • Weight gain

  • Cravings for sugar

  • Intense hunger

  • Feeling frequently hungry

  • Difficulty concentrating

  • Feeling anxious or panicky

  • Lacking focus or motivation

  • Fatigue

While medical treatment, in the form of diabetes medication, may help to relieve the symptoms of hyperinsulinemia, the root cause of the problem can be targeted and treated by diet, exercise and other lifestyle changes.

Additional reporting SWNS.