Vitiligo is an idiopathic disorder of skin and hair characterized by melanin loss. Nonetheless thyroid disorder is a major cause of this pathology, other factors participate in its expression. Hormones such as, testosterone and estrogen have been suspected as drivers of this disorder.
Hormonal connections: Affection of certain hormones such as Thyroid hormones or Melanocyte Stimulating hormone may be responsible for vitiligo. Also, the simultaneous occurrence of vitiligo and other hormonal disorder suggests an underlying genetic factor.
Vitiligo is caused by the lack of a pigment called melanin in the skin. Melanin is produced by skin cells called melanocytes, and it gives your skin its colour. In vitiligo, there are not enough working melanocytes to produce enough melanin in your skin. This causes white patches to develop on your skin or hair.
Afamelanotide is an emerging treatment for vitiligo that is a long-lasting synthetic analog of alpha-melanocyte–stimulating hormone (α-MSH). Afamelanotide binds to the melanocortin-1 receptor and stimulates melanocyte proliferation and melanogenesis.
About 15 to 25 percent of people with vitiligo are also affected by at least one other autoimmune disorder, particularly autoimmune thyroid disease, rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes, psoriasis , pernicious anemia, Addison disease, systemic lupus erythematosus, celiac disease, Crohn disease, or ulcerative colitis.
Vitiligo is an autoimmune disease of the skin, which means that someone with vitiligo has an immune system that is malfunctioning in a small way. The normal role of the immune system is to protect you from infections and cancer.
Vitiligo is associated with several comorbid autoimmune, systemic, and dermatological diseases, primarily thyroid disease, alopecia areata, diabetes mellitus, pernicious anemia, systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, Addison's disease, inflammatory bowel disease, Sjögren's syndrome, dermatomyositis, ...
To treat vitiligo, doctors generally prescribe vitamins, such as vitamins C, E, B12, D, and folic acid, in combination with other treatment regimens.
Vitiligo can be triggered by stress to the melanin pigment-producing cells of the skin, the melanocytes. The triggers, which range from sunburn to mechanical trauma and chemical exposures, ultimately cause an autoimmune response that targets melanocytes, driving progressive skin depigmentation.
Light therapy.
Phototherapy with narrow band ultraviolet B (UVB) has been shown to stop or slow the progression of active vitiligo. It might be more effective when used with corticosteroids or calcineurin inhibitors. You'll need therapy two to three times a week.
Stress increases the levels of catecholamines, neuropeptides, and cortisol that are higher in vitiligo patients [37–39] suggesting their role in the pathogenesis of vitiligo.
Vitiligo is a common pigmentary disorder caused by the destruction of functional melanocytes. Vitamin D is an essential hormone synthesized in the skin and is responsible for skin pigmentation. Low levels of vitamin D have been observed in vitiligo patients and in patients with other autoimmune diseases.
Vitiligo is a chronic (long-lasting) autoimmune disorder that causes patches of skin to lose pigment or color. This happens when melanocytes – skin cells that make pigment – are attacked and destroyed, causing the skin to turn a milky-white color.
Vitiligo is associated with other autoimmune diseases: Addison disease (disorder that occurs when the adrenal glands do not produce enough hormones) Thyroid disease. Pernicious anemia (decrease in red blood cells that occurs when the intestines cannot properly absorb vitamin B12)
A 2016 study found that 20% of participants with vitiligo had an autoimmune disease. The most common of these was thyroid disease, at 12.9%. The reverse is also true – in a 2009 study, vitiligo was significantly more common in people with a thyroid disease than a control group.
Topical steroids. Topical steroids come as a cream or ointment you apply to your skin. They can sometimes stop the spread of the white patches and may restore some of your original skin colour.
Pityriasis versicolor can sometimes be confused with vitiligo, as they both cause the skin to become discoloured in patches. But there are ways to tell the difference: vitiligo often develops symmetrically (on both sides of your body at the same time), while pityriasis versicolor may not.
Vitiligo can start at any age, but usually appears before age 30.
But this doesn't mean that their low vitamin D caused, or is even affecting, their vitiligo, and supplementing their vitamin D may be a good idea for their overall health, but is unlikely to help their vitiligo.
Vitamin B12 has been shown to be useful for repigmentation in patients suffering from vitiligo. Folic acid (or vitamin B9) has been proven to be significant for treating vitiligo.
Still, insufficient medical evidence indicates that low vitamin D could result in vitiligo. Due to this relation to the immune system, it is highly recommended to include it in the therapy for treating vitiligo. Several studies have been conducted to understand the effect of vitamin D in vitiligo patients.
The one significant observation that we found to have the poor prognostic implication in vitiligo is the presence of mucosal vitiligo.
medwireNews: Patients with the autoimmune disorder vitiligo have a “markedly reduced” risk for developing malignancies of internal organs compared with other individuals, Korean researchers report.
Here, we hypothesize that patients with non‐segmental vitiligo (NSV), an autoimmune skin (and mucosal) disorder, may clear SARS‐CoV‐2 infection more efficiently and have a lower risk of COVID‐19 development.