Hu Juan, a 28-year old Chinese woman from Zhengzhou, Henan province looks like an 80-year old woman at first glance. Apparently, she is suffering from a rare condition, Cutis Laxa, that makes her look more than twice her age. She has been seeking for a cosmetic procedure that will make her look young again.
She arrived in Shanghai for the cosmetic surgery procedure that will bring back her youthful look. Xinhua News reported that her condition started 11 years ago, after giving birth to her first son. At that moment on, her neck started to become loose and wrinkles formed on her face. She was aging prematurely.
According to Medscape, Cutis Laxa is a rare, inherited or acquired connective tissue disorder in which the skin becomes inelastic and hangs loosely in folds. In this condition, degenerative changes in the elastic fibers happen that results to the appearance of pendulous skin. The skin is sagging, redundant, and stretchable, with reduced elastic recoil. The cutaneous findings of cutis laxa may be striking, but the elastic fiber network is even more important for pulmonary and cardiovascular function.\
Based on Statistics, Ophanet, who are a consortium of European partners, currently defines a condition rare when if affects 1 person per 2,000. They list Cutis laxa as a "rare disease". Accordingly, only 10 people in the world have been diagnosed with this rare disease, and one is in China.
Experts say that there is no treatment for this condition, but plastic surgery can help correct the appearance of the person. Hu arrived in Shanghai for her plastic surgery. Hu developed depression and even attempted to kill herself once. She locked herself in her house and avoided social involvement because she was ashamed of her condition.
She sought medical help from various doctors for her ageing condition but it has yet to be diagnosed. Yet, a plastic surgeon volunteered to offer free treatment to restore her young-looking skin. According to Rex Features, Hu told reporters that she would be very happy if the procedure would make her look like her 30s or 40s.