Nguyen Thi Phuong (26) of Ben Tre Province turned into an old woman virtually overnight possibly due to an allergy caused by eating seafood or some medicines she was prescribed for it.
Incredibly, the face, neck, and hands of the pretty young woman have become wrinkled and saggy, and she says even her stomach looks like she had a few children.
It happened in 2008 when after eating seafood her face broke out in a rash and became itchy.
Phuong when she was 21 years old
Phuong at present (26 years old), she still retains the body of a young womanShe thinks she used to scratch her face even in sleep.
Her husband Nguyen Thanh Tuyen (34) got her some medicines but they did not work and he had to take her to a local doctor. Phuong was diagnosed with dermatitis and prescribed some pills. However, after taking them for a week, her face swelled up and hives appeared on her skin.
She then stopped taking the medicines and went to some traditional Chinese doctors in town. The medicine they gave reduced the swelling but she says she put on weight. But the drugs cost VND30,000 (US$1.5) a day.
Soon she had to wear a mask all day to avoid curious stares.
“We consider it as fate decreed by God and so we stopped trying to cure the disease,” said Phuong.
Ho Thi Hiep, a neighbor, said Phuong used to be a beautiful girl. But people meeting Phuong for the first time after her disfigurement were no longer able to recognize her until they heard her voice.
Le Van Thiem of Giong Trom town says: “A couple of days ago, Phuong went back to her hometown for her grandmother’s death anniversary. I met her and thought some old lady was visiting us. Only when I heard her voice did I realize it was her.”
Her saggy skin notwithstanding, Phuong still has the voice and posture of a young woman and black hair.
“It is not just my face that has become saggy but also my stomach,” Phuong says.
“I have never given birth but the skin on my stomach looks like I have had two or three kids.
“Last September when I had a stomachache and went to a doctor, he said I was caught with early aging syndrome.
But Phuong’s condition has not put off her husband Tuyen.
“When we got married, Phuong was a beautiful girl,” he says. :'(
“It’s difficult to talk openly about conjugal matters, but just understand that I still love my wife.”
The couple now live in Bu Dop District in Binh Phuoc Province where she has a job shelling cashew while he works as a carpenter.
Dr Mai The Trach, former head of the Ho Chi Minh City Endocrine Association, says allergies cause changes in facial skin. But Phuong has not aged since her memory and organs like heart, kidneys, liver, and lungs are normal, he says.
Hoang Viet, head of the Dong Nai Province-based Nguyen Dinh Chieu hospital, says he has dispatched personnel to Giong Trom to gather more information about Phuong’s condition.
He plans to bring Phuong to his hospital and, if he is unable to help, then to take her the Ho Chi Minh Hospital of Dermatology and Venereology.
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