Rare Disease Causes 23-Year-Old Women’s Face To Age 50 Years Overnight

When Nguyen Thi Phuong went to sleep one night the 23-year-old had the face of a female her age, however the next day she woke up to discover that her face had aged by 50 years. Three years later Phuong is still searching for answers.

When the 23-year-old female went to the doctors they initially believed that Nguyen was suffering from an allergic reaction but later determined that she likely has one of two rare diseases.

Doctors say the Vietnamese woman either has lipodystrophy which causes the surface of the skin to disintegrate while skin continues to grow or mastocytosis which causes the presence of too many mast cells.

If her disease in in fact mastocytosis doctors says they can’t cure the disease but they can treat it and restore up to 70% of her prior appearance.

In the meantime her husband continues to stick by her side even though they look like grandmother and grandson rather than a 20-year-old couple.  According to her husband:

“I married Phuong when she was a beautiful woman. I have followed her through her disease and have never been shocked at all. It’s not easy to talk about one’s own marital affairs. Just simply understand that I still love her very much.”

In the meantime doctors still continue to ponder many questions about the disease which is so rare that very little research has been conducted.