Shocking pictures show a chain-smoker whose skin turned bright yellow – making it look like he had been coloured with paint.
The 60-year-old man, identified only by the surname Du, was rushed to hospital after feeling unwell.
He was alarmed when he noticed that his body had turned an unusual colour.
He was taken to a hospital in the city of Huai’an, in the eastern-central Chinese province of Jiangsu, where doctors diagnosed him with jaundice caused by a tumour in his pancreas.
The tumour was so large it was blocking the bile ducts.
Medics said that they believed his heavy smoking had contributed to the tumour and they also found a second tumour in another part of his body.
The man’s lifestyle, they said, had involved heavy smoking and drinking for more than three decades, and after removing the tumours, urged him to give up both if he wanted to have a chance of survival.
They said that the tumour that was blocking his bile duct had been diagnosed as malignant, and he now needs to go through treatment which involves him also stopping smoking and drinking to have the best chance of success.
Since the operation to remove the tumours, his skin has returned to its normal colour. The medics said that biliary tract obstruction was one of the main causes for the medical condition known as jaundice.
It results in a yellowish or greenish pigmentation of the skin and even of the whites of the eyes.
The man has since been discharged and is back on his feet when he said he is determined to improve his lifestyle and prevent the tumours from returning.
