For more than 50 years, Duangjay Samaksamam, from Thailand, has suffered from an extremely rare and painful affliction that leaves her limbs permanently swollen.

According to a new series,Body Bizzare,Experts believe the 59-year-old is the only person in the world to suffer the rare condition macrodystrophia lipomastosa from shoulder to fingers on both arms.

Embarrassed by her condition throughout her childhood, she spent the first 20 years of her life as a recluse ashamed of the way she looked, meaning she never went to school. But she was forced to come out of hiding at the age of 20 to earn a living in order to care for her elderly parents, and take over running the family grocery shop.

My hands are so heavy I can barely lift them to comb or shampoo my hair, it's very difficult. Getting dressed is also very difficult and painful.

'Some doctors said the only solution was to cut off my hands if I wished to walk around freely. But I don't want to do that.

'They removed about 700 grams of fat and blood out of my hands but after a month it just grew back" Plastic surgeon Dr Eiju Uchinuma said: 'This case is very rare. Both her arms are enlarged. Her arms and hands are enormous so they swell badly but it could be worse.

My diagnosis is that she is the first and only person in the world who has Macrodystrophia Lipomatosa from shoulders to her fingers on both arms.
'The cause of the disease is unknown and is therefore incurable.'