Vitiligo - for life?

Vitiligo - for life?
Features

vitiligo Vitiligo - a disease in which there is a partial pigmentation disorders. Although in most cases, vitiligo affects the skin disorder can develop wherever there is the pigment melanin. For example, because of vitiligo may turn gray of the hair; Sometimes region hypopigmentation appear in the mouth and even eyes can lose their natural color.

The disease is not life threatening, but it can have on a person's life a serious impact: some people sick of vitiligo What is Vitiligo: What are the white spots Drastically reduced self-esteem, they limit social contacts, they may develop depression. As completely cured of vitiligo is usually not possible, the treatment is very important to consider the psychological aspects of the disease.

Symptoms

The main symptom is loss of vitiligo natural skin color, hair (eyebrow, scalp hair, eyelashes, etc.), oral, genital, etc. . The majority of patients with vitiligo disease affects the skin, some of its parts are lighter or completely white . In many cases, the depigmentation is the only symptom - patients feel perfectly healthy . Some people also feel itching, or pain in the skin areas on which there were bright spots . Over time, the area of hypopigmentation may become more . By the way, change in skin color of Michael Jackson is connected with vitiligo: the disease started to develop around the singer in the early 1980s, and appeared to hide stains on the skin, had to use a lot of make-up . With the disease is associated with the fact that the singer is constantly closing the skin from the sun gloves, umbrellas and hats .

Types of vitiligo

Most experts today are two types of vitiligo - segmental and unsegmented bar.

Segmental Vitiligo:

Symptoms appear only on one part of the body - for example, on the face, one arm or leg;
Approximately half of the patients with segmental vitiligo observed depigmentation of the hair;
Symptoms of the disease often appear at an early age;
The disease often progresses over several years, then its development is stopped.

Unsegmented bar vitiligo:

It is the most common type of vitiligo;
Symptoms appear in both sides of the body, such as both hands or feet;
Often the first bright spots appear on the palms, fingertips, wrists, the skin around the eyes or mouth or on the feet;
Unsegmented bar vitiligo often begins in rapid depigmentation, which then stops for a time. Later, the pigment loss can resume. Usually, this cycle continues throughout a person's life;
Bright spots gradually spread and become more visible, and cover all major areas of the skin.

Subtypes of vitiligo:

Localized Vitiligo - there are several spots, the distribution of which is limited to one or two or three parts of the body;
Generalized Vitiligo - spots are formed in many parts of the body. Most patients have vitiligo this subtype;
Universal vitiligo - a skin or hair are deprived of most of the pigment. This subtype of vitiligo is rarely observed.

It is impossible to say which part of the pigment would lose the patient. In some cases, after the appearance of several spots of the disease is stopped for years, others - patients are regularly discovering new spots, and only in very rare cases, pigmentation of the skin is restored.

Incidence

Millions of people worldwide suffer from vitiligo. Approximately half of them are the first symptoms appeared before they turned 21. Most of them will be living with the disease for life.

Vitiligo develops with about equal frequency in representatives of different races, men and women.

Factors that increase the likelihood of vitiligo are:

The presence of close relatives of the flat who suffer vitiligo;
Availability of autoimmune diseases, and particularly Hashimoto's disease alopecia areata.

Causes

Vitiligo is caused by cell death of melanocytes that make skin, hair and eyes have a particular color. Scientists do not know why the cells die. It is assumed that vitiligo unsegmented bar may be an autoimmune disease. The development of segmental vitiligo is associated with abnormalities in the nervous system.

Treatment

There is currently no way to cure vitiligo, but there is a lot of money to restore the color. The choice of treatment depends on the preferences of the patient, his general state of health, age and so on where it is stained hypopigmentation. Some patients for one reason or another refuse to treat vitiligo.

Drug-free treatment involves the use of makeup, tanning, and other means by which the symptoms of vitiligo become imperceptible. This is a safe way to hide the symptoms of the disease, and is often recommended for children, since other treatments they can cause serious side effects. Its disadvantages include the fact that any means to disguise the bright spots should be applied regularly, it may take a long time, and need practice to such a disguise looked natural.
Medication. To restore pigmentation in the affected areas of the skin can be used topical corticosteroids, sometimes - in combination with other drugs. In 45% of patients after 4-6 months pigmentation is restored to some extent. Topical corticosteroids are the most effective for people with dark skin; moreover, they are best for certain skin areas, such as the face. For the skin of hands and feet are the least effective.

Because corticosteroids can cause various side effects, patients should be screened regularly. One of the side effects of these drugs may be atrophy of the skin: the skin becomes thin, very dry and fragile.

Light therapy - the use of ultraviolet light to restore skin pigmentation. For the treatment of large areas of skin can be used lamps similar to those used in tanning salons, and in the treatment of small bright spots on the skin often uses a laser. Light therapy, as well as corticosteroids are the most effective for the skin, and the least effective for hands and feet.

Approximately 70% of patients due to the pigmentation of phototherapy partially or fully restored, but in 44% of patients affected skin noticeably lighter one year after the end of treatment. Four years after completion of treatment depigmentation again becomes noticeable in 86% of patients. The course of treatment lasts several weeks, and every week the patient must attend 2-3 sessions. Light therapy can be used in combination with other treatments for vitiligo.

As the areas not protected by melanin hypopigmentation Which foods contain melanin - skin care Before each exit to the street in any weather, on skin, clothing is not hidden, it is necessary to apply sunscreen Sunscreen: summer trends with an SPF of 30 or greater. The cream should be applied repeatedly every two hours and after swimming or physical activities that cause heavy sweating. On sunny days, we recommend wearing long clothing and hats, and try to spend more time in the shade. People with vitiligo can not go to the solarium - this is not the same thing as phototherapy, which is led by an experienced technician using special equipment. If there is no adequate protection to the skin of vitiliginous skin can quickly formed sunburn, which increase the likelihood of many disorders, including skin cancer.