What is Vitiligo? Can It Be Prevented or Cured?

 What is Vitiligo? Can It Be Prevented or Cured?

Vitiligo is a disease in which there is a loss of skin color in patches. These discolored patches usually get more significant with time. That condition can affect any skin part of the body. In addition, it can also affect the mouth and hair. The color of the skin is generally determined by melanin. Vitiligo happens when cells that produce melanin die or stop producing melanin. That disease can affect people of any skin type. But it is most common among people with darker skin tones. However, the condition is not contagious or life-threatening. But it can significantly make you feel bad about yourself and be stressful for you. Moreover, vitiligo treatments don’t prevent continued loss of skin color, but they can only restore color to the affected skin.

What is vitiligo?

Vitiligo is a non-contagious disease that causes patches of skin to lose their actual color, which results in white spots. In some cases, all or most of the skin becomes white.

Melanin is a pigment responsible for a person’s skin, hair, and eye coloring. Melanocytes are the skin’s pigment-making cells that produce melanin. Melanin is also related to amino acids. Melanocytes are located in the epidermis. So, when they create melanin, people get darker skin tones. More is the production of melanin darker the skin tone is.

What are the different types of vitiligo?

Vitiligo can be of the following different types:

1. Generalized Vitiligo

In it, macules appear in various places on the body. It is the most common type of vitiligo.

2. Segmental Vitiligo

It is limited to one side of the body or one area, such as the hands or face.

3. Mucosal Vitiligo

In this condition, mucous membranes of the mouth and the genitals are affected and lose their color.

4. Focal Vitiligo

It is a rare type of vitiligo in which the macules are in a small area. In most cases, it does not spread in a specific pattern within one to two years.

5. Trichome Vitiligo

There is a white or colorless center in this condition, followed by an area of lighter pigmentation, and then a spot of usually colored skin is present in its surroundings.

6. Universal Vitiligo

Another rare type of vitiligo. More than 80% of the body’s skin lacks melanin pigment in this condition.

What part of the body is susceptible to vitiligo?

Vitiligo can happen in almost any part of the body. Primarily it affects the skin around the

• eyes

• nose

• mouth

• elbows

• wrists

• hands

• ankles etc.

Sometimes this condition can involve large areas of skin, but this type of vitiligo is very rare for people to lose all of their skin pigment.

Who gets vitiligo?

It can develop at any age and in any person. However, the white patches appear mostly in many people before age 20. It can even start in early childhood.

Moreover, vitiligo is more common in people who have a family history of this disease. Also, in people who have some autoimmune diseases, including

• Systemic lupus erythematosus

• Thyroid disease

• Type 1 diabetes

• Psoriasis

• Rheumatoid arthritis

• Addison’s disease

• Pernicious anemia, and many more.

What causes vitiligo?

Although the causes of vitiligo are not entirely known. There are several different theories about it. Some of them are

1. Autoimmune disorder

The affected person’s immune system may develop antibodies that destroy melanocytes which are responsible for melanin production naturally.

2. Genetic factors

Many factors may increase the chance of getting vitiligo to be inherited. About 30% of vitiligo cases run in families.

3. Neurogenic factors

A toxic substance for melanocytes may be released at nerve endings in the skin, which destroys these cells, reducing melanin production.

4. Self-destruction

A defect in the melanocytes causes them to destroy themselves, resulting in melanin loss in the skin layers.

5. Stress

Moreover, physical or emotional stress can also trigger vitiligo.

As there are no sound reasons which can completely account for the condition, vitiligo may be due to the combination of any of these factors in any person.

Symptoms

The symptoms of vitiligo include

1. Skin loses color in patches, which usually first appear on the hands, face, and areas around body openings and the genitals.

2. Premature graying or whitening the hair on your scalp, eyebrows, beard, and eyelashes.

3. Loss of color is seen in the tissues that line the inside of your mouth and nose (mucous membranes)

Complications

People who are suffering from vitiligo are at increased risk of

• Eye problems

• Hearing loss

• Social or psychological distress

• Sunburn, and many more.

When to see a skin specialist?

If your skin, hair, or mucous membrane starts to lose coloring. Then you essentially need to consult a reliable skin specialist. Vitiligo itself has no permanent cure, but its treatment can somehow stop or slow down the effects of the skin disease. And after vitiligo treatment, some areas of skin can get back the original color of the skin.

How is vitiligo diagnosed?

Mostly white patches can be seen easily on the skin. Sometimes, dermatologists use a wood lamp that shines ultraviolet (UV) light onto the skin. That helps in differentiating the affected skin from others.

How is vitiligo treated?

Vitiligo cannot be cured itself. In fact, nowadays, the goal of medical technology is to find a method by which anyone can restore uniform skin tone or eliminate the remaining color. The most common vitiligo treatments utilized by experienced skin specialists include the following:

1. Camouflage therapy

2. Regimentation therapy

3. Light therapy and surgery.

Who treats vitiligo?

Vitiligo can be treated by

• Dermatologists specialized in diagnosing and treating disorders of the skin, nails, hair.

• Primary care physicians can also diagnose it, such as family practitioners or internists.

• Other specialists, such as ophthalmologists (who treat eye problems), may also diagnose it.

How can I prevent vitiligo?

The actual cause of vitiligo is unknown, so no one can tell you how to prevent it. But it is wise for everyone to take good care of skin and practice safe sun exposure habits. Still, if someone catches vitiligo, he should consult a skin specialist as soon as possible to control it at its beginning stage before it spreads.

What is the outlook for people with vitiligo?

People who fully regain their skin color are about 10% to 20%. However, there are best chances of recovering skin color for young people whose vitiligo reaches its peak in less than six months and is located mainly in the facial area. People affected by vitiligo on their lips, limbs, and especially on hands at a later age of life are less likely to regain their actual skin color. That, too, is possible by taking the best vitiligo treatments from professional skin specialists and dermatologists.