Vitiligo

What is Vitiligo?

• Vitiligo - a chronic skin disease characterized by portions of the skin losing their pigment.

Vitiligo

• It occurs when skin pigment cells die or are unable to function. Aside from cases of contact with certain chemicals, the cause of vitiligo is unknown.

Causes

• Research suggests vitiligo may arise from autoimmune, genetic, oxidative stress, neural, or viral causes.

Types

• Vitiligo is typically classified into two main categories: segmental and non-segmental vitiligo.

Segmental

• It tends to affect areas of skin that are associated with dorsal roots from the spinal cord and is most often unilateral.

Segmental

• It spreads much more rapidly than NSV and, without treatment, it is much more stable/static in course and its association with autoimmune diseases appears to be weaker than that of generalized vitiligo

Non-Segmental

• In non-segmental vitiligo (NSV), there is usually some form of symmetry in the location of the patches of depigmentation.

Non-Segmental

• NSV can come about at any age (unlike segmental vitiligo, which is far more prevalent in teenage years)

Causes (continued)

• Although multiple theories have been suggested as potential triggers that cause vitiligo, studies strongly imply that changes in the immune system are responsible for the condition.

Treatment

• There is no cure for vitiligo but several treatment options are available.

Treatment

• The best evidence is for applied steroids and the combination of ultraviolet light in combination with creams.

Works Cited

• www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/vitiligo
• www.niams.nih.gov/health_info/vitiligo
• ghr.nlm.nih.gov/conditions/vitiligo