From HarlemEnglish.com. Nguyen Thi Phuong (26) of Ben Tre Province turned into an old woman virtually overnight possibly due to an allergy caused by eating seafood or some medicines she was prescribed for it.

Incredibly, the face, neck, and hands of the pretty young woman have become wrinkled and saggy, and she says even her stomach looks like she had a few children.

It happened in 2008 when after eating seafood her face broke out in a rash and became itchy.

She thinks she used to scratch her face even in sleep.

Her husband Nguyen Thanh Tuyen (34) got her some medicines but they did not work and he had to take her to a local doctor. Phuong was diagnosed with dermatitis and prescribed some pills. However, after taking them for a week, her face swelled up and hives appeared on her skin.

She then stopped taking the medicines and went to some traditional Chinese doctors in town. The medicine they gave reduced the swelling but she says she put on weight. But the drugs cost VND30,000 (US$1.5) a day.

Soon she had to wear a mask all day to avoid curious stares.

“We consider it as fate decreed by God and so we stopped trying to cure the disease,” said Phuong.

Recognize only by voice

Ho Thi Hiep, a neighbor, said Phuong used to be a beautiful girl. But people meeting Phuong for the first time after her disfigurement were no longer able to recognize her until they heard her voice.

Le Van Thiem of Giong Trom town says: “A couple of days ago, Phuong went back to her hometown for her grandmother’s death anniversary. I met her and thought some old lady was visiting us. Only when I heard her voice did I realize it was her.”

Her saggy skin notwithstanding, Phuong still has the voice and posture of a young woman and black hair.

“It is not just my face that has become saggy but also my stomach,” Phuong says.

“I have never given birth but the skin on my stomach looks like I have had two or three kids.

“Last September when I had a stomachache and went to a doctor, he said I was caught with early aging syndrome.

But Phuong’s condition has not put off her husband Tuyen.

“When we got married, Phuong was a beautiful girl,” he says. “It’s difficult to talk openly about conjugal matters, but just understand that I still love my wife.”

The couple now live in Bu Dop District in Binh Phuoc Province where she has a job shelling cashew while he works as a carpenter.

What doctors say?

Dr Mai The Trach, former head of the Ho Chi Minh City Endocrine Association, says allergies cause changes in facial skin. But Phuong has not aged since her memory and organs like heart, kidneys, liver, and lungs are normal, he says.

Hoang Viet, head of the Dong Nai Province-based Nguyen Dinh Chieu hospital, says he has dispatched personnel to Giong Trom to gather more information about Phuong’s condition.

He plans to bring Phuong to his hospital and, if he is unable to help, then to take her the Ho Chi Minh Hospital of Dermatology and Venereology.

(CNN) — Twinkies. Nutty bars. Powdered donuts. For 10 weeks, Mark Haub, a professor of human nutrition at Kansas State University, ate one of these sugary cakelets every three hours, instead of meals. To add variety in his steady stream of Hostess and Little Debbie snacks, Haub munched on Doritos chips, sugary cereals and Oreos, too. Read More

Watch the news video clip here . Witnesses have described their horror at seeing a tourist being eaten by a “gigantic” shark in South Africa’s most popular holiday destination.

Lloyd Skinner was pulled under the surf and dragged out to sea by the shark, believed to be a great white, off Fish Hoek beach in Cape Town. His diving goggles and a dark patch of blood were all that remained in the water. Read More

TAIPEI (Reuters) – A jobless Taiwan man released from prison stole a box of cotton swabs just to get arrested again because he “could not forget the police department boxed lunches,” officers and local media said Tuesday.

The homeless man in Taipei first stole a pair of shoes on Sunday, was detained and released, the Liberty Times said. He then resorted to stealing again the next day just to get back inside and be fed for free.

 

“If someone’s not doing well and comes in around meal time, we’ll definitely prepare food,” said an officer, surnamed Wang, at the Hsinyi District police station, which handled the case but again released the suspect, Tsou Hao-lan.

In another sign of the times on the recession-hit island, a man who had been without a job for four months stole a motor scooter and drove it to a Taipei-area police station, the paper said.

Taiwan is in recession and economists see more weakness through most of 2009, given falling demand for Taiwan’s electronics goods overseas.

(Reporting by Ralph Jennings; Editing by Nick Macfie and Sugita Katyal)

Attention women: What if you could detoxify your breasts and get rid of cellulite by wearing a special bra and panties? Some clothing manufacturers are suggesting that their products can do just that.

The “Brassage” promises to massage away toxins and help prevent breast cancer.The Brassage, billed as a revolutionary “wellness bra,” retails for as much as $59. It’s produced by Intimate Health, an apparel company run by Christina Erteszek, the daughter of famous lingerie designer Olga.

“I have seen a lot of breasts in my life, more than any man could dream of,” said Erteszek, who claimed to be wearing a Brassage during her interview with ABC News.
Regular bras could be hazardous to your health, she says, because they trap toxins in the breasts. Her Brassage, however, has “massaging” bumps sewn into the sides that “stimulate lymphatic flow,” flushing those toxins away.
Asked if she is implying the Brassage helps prevent breast disease, Erteszek said, “Yes. Of course.” But, she went on, “I say, ‘help to prevent.’ I’m making no medical claims that it does prevent.”

 

Unsupported Claims

There’s no evidence the Brassage helps prevent anything. And there’s no scientific data to support Erteszek’s statements, according to breast cancer researcher Dr. Susan Love, clinical professor of surgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles.

“We really have no data that toxins are accumulating in the breast tissue every day, and that they are not being allowed to drain out because of people wearing bras,” Love said.
The Brassage Web site says the Brassage is “doctor designed” and patented. But the inventor of the “micro-massaging” bumps in the Brassage is not a medical doctor; he’s a chiropractor.

 

Underwear That Prevents Cellulite?

Solidea, the catalog company that carries the Brassage, also sells Micro-Massage Anti-Cellulite panties, tights and tummy bands. The Brooklyn, N.Y., company imports the support hose from Italy.

A promotional DVD claims, “The special three-dimensional relief fabric effectively models and reduces cellulite on the buttocks, hips, thighs, and legs

Continue reading full story with video»»

A Washington woman visiting Wisconsin last year was arrested for drunken driving three times in three days, including twice in and around Kohler-Andrae State Park, according to court records released Wednesday. Jo A. Trilling, of Spokane, Wash., who was sentenced on the final two cases last week, was arrested in each case after driving off the road and getting her car stuck. She was arrested March 11, 12 and 13 of 2008, racking up a total of 30 days in jail and more than $3,000 in fines.

According to authorities:

Trilling was first arrested about 2 p.m. March 11, 2008, when a Sheboygan County Sheriff’s Department deputy noticed her trying to drive out of a ditch near the Kohler-Andrae entrance. The deputy noticed Trilling wore only one shoe and smelled of intoxicants. A later blood test revealed a blood-alcohol level of 0.21, more than 2½ times the legal limit. Exactly 24 hours later, the Kohler-Andrae park superintendent spotted Trilling’s car stuck in the snow in a campground that was closed for the winter. He told Trilling she would have had to drive through a muddy side lane and maintenance gate to get to that point, and she said she did not remember that.

Trilling told an officer she had “four or six cups of wine,” adding, “I am still finishing up the box of wine in my car from yesterday.” A box of Black Fox wine and a partial cup of wine were found in the car. Trilling was arrested and again served the mandatory 12 hours in jail before being released without bond, officials said. She then headed for Cottage Grove, in Dane County, where she was arrested after a citizen reported she was “all over the road,” according to a police report.

A partial bottle of wine was found in the car. Trilling had a blood alcohol-level of 0.16. The Cottage Grove case was concluded first and therefore listed in court records as the first offense. Trilling was fined $730 for that offense, $906 for the March 11 arrest in Sheboygan and $1,221 for the March 12 arrest in Sheboygan. Trilling was also fined $372 for an ordinance violation of resisting or obstructing an officer during the March 12 arrest.

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