Vitiligo
Alternative Names
VitiligoWhat is Vitiligo
Vitiligo is a condition in which your skin has a lack of melanin, the pigment that determines the color of your skin, hair and eyes. Vitiligo usually appears when the cells that produce melanin die or no longer form melanin, causing slowly enlarging white patches of irregular shapes to appear on your skin.
Vitiligo affects all races, but it is more prevalent in people with darker skin. Vitiligo usually starts as small areas of pigment loss that spread with time.
Signs and symptoms
The common signs of vitiligo are:
- Pigment loss that produces milky-white patches (depigmentation) on your skin
- Premature whitening or graying of the hair on your scalp, eyelashes, eyebrows or beard
- Loss of color in the tissues that line the inside of your mouth (mucous membranes)
- Loss of or change in color of the inner layer of your eye (retina)
Possible complications
Due to vitiligo depigmented areas are more likely to sunburn and develop certain skin cancers.
What causes
Vitiligo appears when immune cells destroy the cells that produce brown pigment (melanocytes). This destruction is thought to be due to an autoimmune problem, but the exact cause is still unknown.
Vitiligo is linked to 3 other autoimmune diseases:
- Addison's disease
- Hyperthyroidism
- Pernicious anemia
Prevention
There is no way to prevent this disease. It is under the study.
Treatment
It is very difficult to treat vitiligo. Early treatment options may include:
- Phototherapy, a medical procedure in which your skin is carefully exposed to ultraviolet light. Phototherapy may be given alone or after you take a drug that makes your skin sensitive to light.
- Certain medicines applied to the skin, such as corticosteroid creams or ointments; immunosuppressant creams or ointments such as pimecrolimus (Elidel) and tacrolimus (Protopic); topical drugs such as methoxsalen (Oxsoralen)
