Vitiligo signs include: Patchy loss of skin color, which usually first appears on the hands, face, and areas around body openings and the genitals.
Who Gets Vitiligo? Anyone can get vitiligo, and it can develop at any age. However, for many people with vitiligo, the white patches begin to appear before age 20, and can start in early childhood.
If you see white patches and spots on your skin, it's important to find out if you have vitiligo. This disease increases the risk of having some other autoimmune diseases like thyroid disease and alopecia areata. Some people develop hearing loss or a problem with their vision.
Many people who have vitiligo are often otherwise healthy. Even so, it's important to find a doctor like a dermatologist who knows about vitiligo. People who have vitiligo have a higher risk of getting some other medical conditions. You can also get painful sunburns on the skin that has lost color.
As non-segmental vitiligo is closely associated with other autoimmune conditions, you may be assessed to see whether you have any symptoms that could suggest an autoimmune condition, such as: being tired and lacking energy (signs of Addison's disease) being thirsty and needing to urinate often (signs of diabetes)
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.
Protect your skin from the sun.
A bad sunburn can worsen vitiligo. If you have a lighter skin tone, there's another advantage to protecting your skin from the sun. Without a tan, the lighter spots and patches are often less noticeable.
Vitiligo is an under-recognized organ-specific autoimmune disease of the skin that results from cytotoxic T cell-mediated attack on melanocytes, the pigment-producing cells in the epidermis (18). The result is the loss of pigment in the skin, visible as white spots (Fig.
Significant number of vitiligo patients have diverse psychological problems. Hormonal response to psychological stress such as cortisol has a role in the development of vitiligo.
It's more visible in people with darker skin tones. Although vitiligo can develop in anyone at any age, macules or patches usually become apparent before age 30. You might be at a higher risk of developing vitiligo if you have certain autoimmune conditions like: Addison's disease.
Research suggests that most people who develop vitiligo do so during childhood. As you age, Dr. Mohta says untreated vitiligo often progresses to involve the surrounding skin or create new patches of discoloration.
Our dermatologists often diagnose vitiligo based solely on a physical examination. If doctors need more information about how the condition affects your skin cells, they may suggest a skin biopsy or blood test.
Ruxolitinib (Opzelura™) is the only medication approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to restore lost skin color in people who have vitiligo. This JAK inhibitor is a cream that's approved to treat people 12 years of age and older who have non-segmental vitiligo.
Segmental vitiligo is unique, even beyond the fact that it doesn't cross the midline. It spreads very quickly, faster than the other forms, but only for about 6 months (sometimes up to a year).
A skin biopsy, which means taking a small sample of your skin to be examined under a microscope. Doctors can examine the tissue for the missing melanocytes seen in the depigmented skin of a person with vitiligo.
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, ...
Vitiligo or Gray Hair? Just as vitiligo can make your body attack the cells that produce melanin in your skin, it can also affect the melanin that gives your hair color. Some people with vitiligo may develop patches of white or gray hair where melanin has been lost. 5 Vitiligo itself does not usually cause hair loss.
To the best of our knowledge, vitamin D significantly affects melanocytes and keratinocytes. Studies suggest that vitamin D3 increases tyrosinase activity and melanogenesis in vitro [12], which may lead to repigmentation in vitiligo skin lesions.
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.
Vitiligo can be triggered by stress to the melanin pigment-producing cells of the skin, the melanocytes.
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.
The 2020 study above found that 1.6% of people with vitiligo had rheumatoid arthritis. The condition was more than twice as common in people with vitiligo compared with the general population.
In this study, vitiligo did not appear to be associated with a high body mass index, in contrast to most other autoimmune diseases.