Vitiligo is a common condition, which affects about one per cent of people. Some areas of the skin lose the normal pigment (depigmentation) and become white. It occurs due to loss of melanocytes in the affected areas. Melanocytes are cells, which are in the skin and produce the pigment known as melanin. This pigment gives the skin its normal colour. Vitiligo is an autoimmune disease. Sometimes, the immune system of your body may produce antibodies against the melanocytes. Therefore, these antibodies destroy the melanocytes in some areas of the skin. Then, the skin cannot sufficiently produce melanin.
Vitiligo occurs in women and men from all races evenly. However, it can be easily identified in individuals with dark skins. Vitiligo can affect people of any age. However, about 50 % of the patients get it before 20 years. It doesn’t spread to others. About 20 % of individuals with vitiligo have a family member with the same disease. The exact mechanism of inheritance has not been recognised yet. If a person has vitiligo, it doesn’t mean that his or her kids are going to have it too. There is no association between vitiligo and your diet.
Symptoms
It occurs as well-demarcated patches of complete pigment loss in the skin. There is no history of preceding inflammation within the affected areas. People with vitiligo are more prone to sunburn. These sunburns are painful. When they have resolved, the affected areas will stand out from the skin surface, more noticeably than previously, against the background of darkened skin. Vitiligo usually affects the body symmetrically. It frequently appears over the face, hands, and genitals. It is also found around the nostrils, eyes, mouth, pigmented moles, and the umbilicus as well as in the groin and armpits. A rare kind of vitiligo known as segmental type occurs in only one area of the body. The hair can also lose the colour within the affected skin in vitiligo. Sometimes, trauma or injury like a burn or a cut may induce new patches of vitiligo. Premature (early) greying of hair in the scalp can go with vitiligo.
The regain of the normal colour (repigmentation) can spontaneously occur in a few patients and frequently begins around hair follicles, giving a dotted appearance. It is not a complete process usually. However, the repigmentation is rare if vitiligo has remained for more than one year, or if the hair loses the colour. The psychological effects of vitiligo like depression can be devastating, especially in black African or Asian people.
The course of vitiligo is somewhat difficult to predict. It usually progresses gradually with intervals of stability over several years. The patches of vitiligo slowly alter their size and shape. Sometimes, the skin around the affected areas becomes darker than normal. The hairs developing from a patch of vitiligo may have normal or white colour.
Diagnosis
White patches in the skin with a normal texture usually help diagnose the condition. The patches of a side of the body approximately mirror or reflect those on the other side. The Wood’s lamp (an ultraviolet light) helps show up the affected areas, which have already missed in a white-skinned person. When the diagnosis has been made, the doctor may need to check the patient for other autoimmune conditions and for thyroid disease, which are more prevalent than normal in individuals with vitiligo.
Management
Vitiligo occasionally disappears without any treatment. Treatment is usually ineffective and has no effect on the long-term outcome. Some treatments may impair the progress of the condition. Sunblocks (sunscreens) can be used to avoid burning. Phototherapy or powerful topical steroids may help some people. Narrowband UVB (NB-UVB) Phototherapy may be an efficient treatment, resulting in reasonable repigmentation in vitiligo. Some studies show that tacrolimus ointment is effective to manage localised vitiligo. Tacrolimus 0.1 % ointment is being evaluated. If vitiligo is nearly widespread and fixed, depigmentation of the skin with monobenzone can be used. Finally, a specialist referral to camouflage clinic is usually the most useful treatment.
However, a cure cannot be assured.
Related Links:
Eczema with an Unusual Distribution (Contact Dermatitis)
Pityriasis Versicolor (Tinea Versicolor)
Male Pattern Baldness (Androgenic Alopecia)
Alopecia Areata: Another Type of Hair Loss
No comments:
Post a Comment
We hold the right to delete or edit any of your comments for any reason. Please, add your valuable comment decently. If you add your comment for the purpose of spamming, profanity or ad hominem attacks, your comment will be banned and deleted.