Vitiligo is quite a common skin disease which affects at least one person in every hundred in countries throughout the world including the UK. Anyone, male or female, irrespective of skin colour or ethnic origin can develop the condition.
Vitiligo causes the skin, and sometimes the hair, to turn white in patches. This is because melanocytes, the cells which give the skin its colour, have either been damaged or destroyed. The disease can spread, rapidly or slowly, to cover the entire body surface (universal vitiligo) but this is not inevitable. The most common form of vitiligo appears in symmetrical form (generalized vitiligo) affecting both sides of the body. In some cases only one half of the body is affected (segmental vitiligo) and this type has limited progression and is more difficult to treat. Vitiligo can begin at any age, though about fifty percent of people develop it before the age of twenty.
You cannot catch vitiligo. It is not infectious. Although there are no physical symptoms apart from sunburn in the white patches if they are not protected from the sun, it can cause severe psychological distress, especially when the face, neck, hands and genitals are affected. Although the disease is more noticeable on dark or tanned skin the degree of distress is not necessarily linked to skin colour or to the extent of the disease. However, people with dark skin from certain ethnic groups who develop vitiligo may feel particularly stigmatized and fear a loss of identity should the disease become widespread.
The course of vitiligo is unpredictable. Some people may not notice a change in their condition for many years, while for others it can spread quite rapidly. In some cases the white patches can spontaneously repigment, particularly in children, though it is rare for the disease to resolve completely without treatment. |
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