Vitiligo: a common cause of loss of skin pigment

Melanin is the pigment that gives skin its characteristic color. Vitiligo is characterized by a loss of pigment in the skin, through the destruction of pigment formation called melanocytes. Although vitiligo affects all races equally, it is more noticeable in people with darker skin. Vitiligo can aesthetic problems.

Vitiligo Facts *

Vitiligo medically Facts edited by Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD

•        Vitiligo is a disorder in which the pigment cells of the skin, melanocytes are destroyed in some areas.
•        Vitiligo results in depigmented, or white spots on the skin anywhere on the body.
•        Vitiligo may be focal and localized region or it can affect many different areas of the body.
•        The exact cause of vitiligo is unknown, although most experts believe it is an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys certain cells in the body.
•        Most people who have vitiligo develop the condition before age 40, about half of them develop before 20 to age.
•        Vitiligo tends to run in families.
•        Vitiligo is sometimes associated with other medical conditions, including pernicious anemia.
•        Vitiligo is not painful and does not have significant consequences for health, but it can have emotional and psychological consequences.
•        Some medical treatments can reduce the severity of the disease, but it can not be cured.