Vitiligo occurs when cells that produce melanin die or stop functioning. Vitiligo affects people of all skin types, but it may be more noticeable in people with brown or Black skin. The condition is not life-threatening or contagious. It can be stressful or make you feel bad about yourself.
Vitiligo does not pose a serious threat to one's health, but it can result in physical complications, such as eye issues, hearing problems, and sunburn. People with vitiligo also tend to be more likely to have another autoimmune disease (like thyroid disorders and some types of anemia).
What causes vitiligo? Vitiligo is an autoimmune disease. This type of disease develops when your immune system attacks part of your own body. If you have vitiligo, your immune system attacks cells in your body called melanocytes. These are cells that make pigment.
The disease does not affect life expectancy. However, it can have a significant impact on quality of life, especially psychologically and be responsible for disorders such as depression and anxiety.
Vitiligo is a complicated condition that has many unknowns. The condition can start at any age, and may become more prominent over time. Whether or not it is associated with aging, or gets worse with age, is truly undetermined at this point.
Sometimes, larger patches continue to widen and spread, but they usually stay in the same place for years. The location of smaller macules shifts and changes over time, as certain areas of skin lose and regain their pigment. The amount of affected skin varies for each person diagnosed with vitiligo.
According to the American Academy of Dermatology Association, up to half of people who develop vitiligo do so before the age of 20. But despite its high incidence in childhood and early adulthood, vitiligo can happen at any age, says the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS).
Vitiligo — like many skin conditions — can be challenging to live with, mainly because of the way the skin looks. However, people with vitiligo are usually in good health and live normal lives. If it is not associated with symptoms that cause physical discomfort or complications, the condition may be left untreated.
Complications of vitiligo are social stigmatization and mental stress, eye involvement like iritis, depigmented skin is more prone to sunburn, skin cancer, and hearing loss because of loss of cochlear melanocytes. Other complications are related to medications like skin atrophy after prolonged use of topical steroids.
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.
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 seems to be more common in people who have a family history of the disorder or who have certain autoimmune diseases, including: Addison's disease. Pernicious anemia. Psoriasis.
Inheritance. Vitiligo sometimes runs in families, but the inheritance pattern is complex because multiple causative factors are involved. About one-fifth of people with this condition have at least one close relative who is also affected.
Moreover, people with vitiligo lack melanin, which is the body's natural protection from the sun, so sun exposure can be particularly dangerous. That's why it's vital that people with vitiligo use broad-spectrum sun protection with an SPF (sun protection factor) of 30 and above.
Vitiligo often starts as a pale patch of skin that gradually turns completely white. The centre of a patch may be white, with paler skin around it. If there are blood vessels under the skin, the patch may be slightly pink, rather than white. The edges of the patch may be smooth or irregular.
As with any type of skin condition visible for the world to see, vitiligo can be difficult to live with. Many diagnosed with the disorder suffer from low self-esteem, depression, and anxiety. Having the information and some tools available may help you gain some control over vitiligo.
For every 100,000 person-years, 503 people with vitiligo developed dementia compared to just 102 healthy controls.
So it is still important to protect yourself from burning in the sun. And in addition to increasing the risk of skin cancer, it can make vitiligo worse!
After 6 to 12 months, segmental vitiligo tends to stabilize, meaning that the color loss stops. Once it stops, most people with segmental vitiligo don't develop new patches or spots.
Vitiligo is believed to be an acquired condition, though a positive family history is seen in 30 to 40 percent of cases. Few cases of vitiligo at birth have been reported.
While researchers are looking for a cure, treatment cannot currently cure this disease. Treatment can help restore lost skin color, but the color (repigmentation) may fade over time. To keep their results, many patients have maintenance treatments.
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.
If a person has vitiligo, the risk that a first-degree family member (parent, child, or sibling) is 5%, or 5 times higher than the general population. That seems like a big increase, but even so, that means only about 1 in 20 first-degree relatives of vitiligo patients get vitiligo as well.
Skin conditions such as vitiligo are not automatically classified as a disability, but can be categorised as a disability under the Equality Act 2010 if they have a major long-term effect on a person's normal day-to-day activity.