Woman with aging problem returns after successful operation in Taiwan

Nguyen Thi Ngoc Mai, the 28-year-old woman who was suffering from a rare disease that was aging her rapidly into an old woman, has now returned to Vietnam after a successful operation in Taiwan (China).

Nguyen Thi Ngoc Mai, the 28-year-old woman who was suffering from a rare disease that was aging her rapidly into an old woman, has now returned to Vietnam after a successful operation in Taiwan (China).

Mai was present at a press conference, showing a glowing new face, and accompanied with one of her plastic surgeons, Hung-Chi Chen.

Nguyen Thi Ngoc Mai (2nd L) stands with her plastic surgeon Hung-Chi Chen (L) at the press conference
Nguyen Thi Ngoc Mai (2nd L) stands with her plastic surgeon Hung-Chi Chen (L) at the press conference

Before leaving Vietnam, Mai had begun to resemble a 70-year-old woman due to a rare aging disease. She now looks 20-years-old after one month of treatment in Taiwan (China), which cost around US$ 20,000.

Plastic surgeon Hung-Chi Chen, one of the doctors treating her, told the press that Taiwanese doctors had taken some of her abdominal fat to transplant on her face, which is still slightly puffy being fresh from surgery.

Before going to Taiwan in April, Mai recalled how weak she felt even while walking and suffered from several other health problems. But now she feels refreshed and it is difficult to spot any signs of wrinkles on her face, following multiple plastic surgeries and a sophisticated cranial operation to rejuvenate her appearance.

However, the surgeon warned that her younger brother was showing signs of genetic mutation but no clinical symptoms of Werner Syndrome, as in the case of his sister.

Despite a slight puffiness to her face from the plastic surgery, Mai said that wrinkles and complications in other parts of her body had stopped developing.

When Mai was just 12 years old, she noticed some red spots on her hand which itched all the time, and later these spots spread all over her body. Her face soon swelled up and then began to wrinkle and sag.  Her family took her to the Dermatology Hospital in Da Nang where doctors concluded she suffered nettle rash and gave her medicine for the same, but her condition continued to worsen.

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