Vitiligo is an autoimmune disease of hypersensitivity reaction type II, which causes discoloration of parts of the skin resulting from the dysfunction or death of melanocytes.
It is a non-contagious disease, which is manifested by white spots in various areas of the skin. It can rarely affect the mucous membranes inside the mouth, nose, and eyeballs. When it occurs in areas of the body with hair growth, the hairs turn white.
Vitiligo is observed at a young age between 20 and 30, mainly in dark skin but also in children.
Causes
Although there is a long standing research on the disease unfortunately the cause remains unknown. There are several theories on why vitiligo occurs in some people: heredity, history of sunburn, and emotional stress.
However, three are the main prevailing theories:
- Destruction of melanocytes (the cells that produce the skin's pigment, melanin) from the abnormal function of the body's nerve cells.
- Self-destruction of melanocytes.
- Incorrect immune system attack on the melanocytes resulting in their destruction and the imminent discoloration of the skin. This is the most widely accepted theory and that’s were the theory of autoimmune nature of vitiligo as a disease is based on.
Symptoms
White spots on the skin are the first clear symptoms of vitiligo. White spots or otherwise skin discoloration spots appear mainly in areas of the skin that are exposed to the sun the most such as the face, neck, hands, and feet. However, some people develop vitiligo in the oral cavity, nose, and inside the eyes.
Diagnosis
A dermatologist diagnoses vitiligo after a clinical evaluation and a series of tests to rule out other autoimmune diseases or thyroid dysfunction. Vitiligo is divided into several types depending on its characteristics, with segmental vitiligo and generalized vitiligo being the most common:
- In segmental vitiligo, the white spots appear individually in small body areas and are irregular.
- In generalized vitiligo, white spots appear all over the body, and the skin gradually loses color. Because vitiligo is considered unpredictable, it does not have a specific rate of development – in some, it can remain stable for many years, and in others, it can expand rapidly – scientists consider it necessary to treat it early with the appropriate therapeutic method.
Treatment
The main aim of the available treatments is to restore the color of the skin in the areas where the white spots are present. The most common treatments are phototherapy, topical pharmaceutical agents, and depigmentation of healthy skin, which is chosen only in those cases where the extension of the vitiligo is vast on the skin's surface.
