Post by swamprat on Oct 13, 2011 18:26:27 GMT -6
The Sun
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Women, 23 Ages Fifty Years in Just Days
DOCTORS are baffled after a 23-year-old woman claims she has aged by 50 years in just days.
Her story has sparked an internet debate asking if such rapid ageing is possible and medical experts are divided on what could have triggered it.
Vietnamese woman Nguyen Thi Phuong now looks like a septuagenarian after the affliction took hold following an allergic reaction to seafood, it's claimed.
Her sad story began in 2008, when she says her youthful beauty began to fade over the course of just a few days, leaving her with sagging, wrinkled skin all over her face and body.
Her husband, carpenter Nguyen Thanh Tuyen says his love for his once beautiful wife has not faded while Phuong, now 26, says her condition has only worsened since she was first struck with the condition.
Doctors are at odds over what condition she has - some have argued it 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.
The syndrome, which has no cure, leaves its victims with loose folds of skin all over their bodies, wrinkled faces and the gaunt features of people decades older.
The condition is extremely rare and only 2,000 people throughout the world are thought to have lipodystrophy.
Displaying photos of a beautiful 21-year-old woman on her wedding day in 2006, Phuong said: "Five years ago, I was rather pretty and not so ugly like this, right?"
Phuong claims she has long been allergic to seafood and that she had suffered a particularly bad reaction in 2008.
"The skin on my face, chest and belly have folds like an old woman who has given birth several times although I have never had a child.
"But the rapid-ageing syndrome hasn't affected my menstrual cycle, hair, teeth, eyes and mind."
Many local doctors do not believe that Phuong has lipodystrophy, saying instead that she may be suffering the side-effects of too much steroid medication.
They said Phuong might have taken low quality traditional medicines that are often secretly spiked with corticoids to quicken and improve patients' responses to some treatments. But the steroids often have dangerous side-effects which become apparent much later.
Doctor Vo Thi Bach Suong of the HCMC University of Medicine and Pharmacy said Phuong was a rare case but was not suffering from lipodystrophy, which is usually found in younger patients.
Minh visited Phuong on Tuesday at her house in the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre and after some simple tests, he believed she may have Mastocytosis, a rare disorder caused by the presence of too many mast cells.
There is currently no cure to Mastocytosis but there are many medicines to help treat its symptoms.
Minh said his treatment plan could restore between 50-70 percent of her skin to normal and laser therapy could reduce the folds.
He said there should be more tests to verify his initial diagnosis and find any other diseases she might have for premium treatment, adding that he is 90 per cent certain that Phuong has Mastocytosis.
Read More: www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3870336/Woman-23-ages-50-years-in-just-days.html
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Women, 23 Ages Fifty Years in Just Days
DOCTORS are baffled after a 23-year-old woman claims she has aged by 50 years in just days.
Her story has sparked an internet debate asking if such rapid ageing is possible and medical experts are divided on what could have triggered it.
Vietnamese woman Nguyen Thi Phuong now looks like a septuagenarian after the affliction took hold following an allergic reaction to seafood, it's claimed.
Her sad story began in 2008, when she says her youthful beauty began to fade over the course of just a few days, leaving her with sagging, wrinkled skin all over her face and body.
Her husband, carpenter Nguyen Thanh Tuyen says his love for his once beautiful wife has not faded while Phuong, now 26, says her condition has only worsened since she was first struck with the condition.
Doctors are at odds over what condition she has - some have argued it 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.
The syndrome, which has no cure, leaves its victims with loose folds of skin all over their bodies, wrinkled faces and the gaunt features of people decades older.
The condition is extremely rare and only 2,000 people throughout the world are thought to have lipodystrophy.
Displaying photos of a beautiful 21-year-old woman on her wedding day in 2006, Phuong said: "Five years ago, I was rather pretty and not so ugly like this, right?"
Phuong claims she has long been allergic to seafood and that she had suffered a particularly bad reaction in 2008.
"The skin on my face, chest and belly have folds like an old woman who has given birth several times although I have never had a child.
"But the rapid-ageing syndrome hasn't affected my menstrual cycle, hair, teeth, eyes and mind."
Many local doctors do not believe that Phuong has lipodystrophy, saying instead that she may be suffering the side-effects of too much steroid medication.
They said Phuong might have taken low quality traditional medicines that are often secretly spiked with corticoids to quicken and improve patients' responses to some treatments. But the steroids often have dangerous side-effects which become apparent much later.
Doctor Vo Thi Bach Suong of the HCMC University of Medicine and Pharmacy said Phuong was a rare case but was not suffering from lipodystrophy, which is usually found in younger patients.
Minh visited Phuong on Tuesday at her house in the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre and after some simple tests, he believed she may have Mastocytosis, a rare disorder caused by the presence of too many mast cells.
There is currently no cure to Mastocytosis but there are many medicines to help treat its symptoms.
Minh said his treatment plan could restore between 50-70 percent of her skin to normal and laser therapy could reduce the folds.
He said there should be more tests to verify his initial diagnosis and find any other diseases she might have for premium treatment, adding that he is 90 per cent certain that Phuong has Mastocytosis.
Read More: www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3870336/Woman-23-ages-50-years-in-just-days.html