Vietnamese doctors are trying to make sense of what has happened to the appearance of Nguyen Thi Phuong, a 26-year-old woman from Ben Tre, VN, who seems to have aged decades over just a few years.
In 2008, Nguyen suffered from a severe allergic reaction to seafood that kept her itching and scratching, even in her sleep. Unable to afford more costly medications, she initially took drugs purchased from a local pharmacy, which alleviated the itching but didn’t do very much to treat the hives.
“Then I switched to traditional medicine and all the hives disappeared, together with my itching. However, my skin began to sag and fold,” said Nguyen. Three years later, she now looks fifty years older than she actually is.
Her black hair, voice, teeth, and other healthy organs are evidence of her youth. Only her skin has been affected by the rapid aging.
Some believe the condition is lipodystrophy, “a rare syndrome that causes a layer of fatty tissue beneath the surface of the skin to disintegrate while the skin itself continues to grow at a startling pace,” according to the Telegraph.
Dr. Hoang Van Minh of the HCMC Medicine and Pharmacy University Hospital visited Nguyen in her hometown to run some tests on Tuesday. He believes she may have a rare condition caused by the presence of excessive mast cells, called mastocytosis.
Nguyen is married to Nguyen Thanh Tuyen, 33, whose love for her has not been affected by her appearance. “He still loves me like before despite the fact that I look old and ugly. With him, I feel more confident to live and work,” she said.
“I married Phuong when she was a beautiful woman. I have followed her through her disease and have never been shocked at all,” said her husband. “Just simply understand that I still love her very much.”
Despite the various theories of other doctors, Dr. Hoang is 90 percent confident that Nguyen has mastocytosis, and has a treatment plan that could restore 50-70 percent of her skin, according to Thanh Nien News.
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