Vitiligo Disease
Most of you are not familiar with vitiligo what exactly is Vitiligo Disease? Vitiligo is a chronic skin disorder in which the cells responsible for skin pigmentation are unable to function or destroyed. This results in irregular patches of skin. Similar patches also appear inside of the mouth, nose, and the retina. The precise cause of vitiligo is complex and not fully understood, but there is some evidence suggesting it is caused by a combination of auto-immune, genetic, and environmental factors.
Also is there strong evidence that people with this disease inherit a group of three genes that make them susceptible to de-pigmentation. People who develop vitiligo usually first notice white blotches (depigmentation) on their body. These milky spots are more commonly found on sun-exposed areas of the body, such as hands, feet, arms, face, lips, and around eyes, mouth and nostrils. Other common areas for white marks to appear are the armpits and groin, and around the navel, genitals, and rectal areas.
Around 1% to 2% of the total population in the United States has Vitiligo disease. As of estimates, as many as 65million people of the world population are suffering from this disorder. The most widely accepted view is that the de-pigmentation occurs because vitiligo is an autoimmune disease. Autoimmune is a disease in which a man’s immune system reacts against the body’s own organs or tissues. Once immune system gets reversed, people’s bodies produce proteins called cytokines that alter their pigment-producing cells. As a result of which these cells die.
A quarter of people believe that melanocytes destroy themselves. Half of people with Vitiligo develop blotches of de-pigmented skin appearing on extremities before they turn 20. Age of onset of this disorder is often in young adulthood. While most develop it before they celebrate their 40th birthdays. The condition tends to progress gradually with marks enlarging and extending until a quiescent state is reached. There are very explicit signs of vitiligo disorder, mainly characterized by unpigmented skin and milky white marks.
The milky spots often occur symmetrically across both sides on the body and may grow, shrink, or remain constant in size. The patches may be on every part of our body.
In vitiligo disease, melanocyte cells which give our skin the color of our body lose the ability to synthesize the pigments. Occasionally small areas may lose pigment as they are recolonised by melanocytes. Vitiligo on the scalp may affect the color of the hair. The hair that grows on vitiligo affected areas sometimes turns white. It also similarly affects facial and body hair.
Vitiligo disorder affects both sexes and all races equally; however, it is more found in people with dark skin. There is no medical treatment applied in this disease. Sometimes the best treatment for this disease is no treatment at all. However, in clinical medicine, patients with vitiligo are exposed to ultraviolet rays for specified time. This kind of treatment takes two or three months depending on the violence and severity of the problem. In most of the countries herbalists have come up with several herbal medical treatments. Many people prefer using herbal treatment to medical treatment in hospitals.
Today, many vitiligo affected people use cosmetics as the final cure. But it is important that you carefully and accurately diagnose vitiligo before you precede with any vitiligo treatments. There are many people suffering this disease, but all are happy in their lives since they don’t mind vitiligo. If you also have Vitiligo disease, you must be aware of the danger, a stressful life, which triggers the vitiligo. If you mind it, you are suffered to not only vitiligo but also other mental illnesses. |