Nguyen Thi Phuong, 26, whose skin wrinkled overnight, has been primarily diagnosed with ‘acquired cutis laxa’ and ‘mastocytosis’, said Prof. Dr. Dang Van Phuoc, deputy director of the HCMC Medicine and Pharmacy University Hospital.

According to some medical websites, ‘acquired cutis laxa’ is a rare connective tissue disorder disease, in which the skin loses elasticity and begins to sag in folds; while ‘mastocytosis’ is also a rare skin disease, in which mast cells proliferate and accumulate, producing lesions and intense itching.

A panel of experts in endocrinology, dermatology, cardiology and anatomy announced their preliminary findings after careful clinical research, said Phuoc, head of the panel of doctors.

After three weeks of intensive treatment, Phuong’s skin condition has improved and her face is already beginning to look younger, Phuoc added.

The official diagnosis will be made late next week by a larger panel of health experts after the results of her gene background and all immune test results are available.

Phuong was hospitalized on October 14 and is undergoing treatment.

She said that in the beginning red rashes ‘suddenly’ erupted on her face without ‘any reason’. Her face would itch and then soon wrinkle.

She also confirmed that seafood or any other kind of food allergy was not the cause of her strange disease.

Except for her wrinkled face and hands, she walks and talks like an energetic young woman, with her voice sounding like a sweet 18-year-old girl.