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What is Vitiligo?
Type:Uv phototherapy Time:2018-06-21 15:58:06 What is Vitiligo?
Vitiligo is a disorder in which patches of white skin appear on various parts of the body. The skin is white because the cells responsible for producing brown pigment (melanocytes) have disappeared from the affected areas. Vitiligo is a common condition afflicting up to 2% of the population and although it may appear at any age, it most commonly commences in childhood or early adult-life.
Vitiligo is an inherited condition but it frequently skips generations so that only 60-80% of patients know of a family member with the condition. How a genetic defect leads to loss of pigment cells in the skin is only poorly understood. It appears that the immune defense system of the body recognizes the pigment cells as ¡°foreign¡± and not self and proceeds to kill them. The fact that only some pigment cells are killed and not all of them, suggest the defect lies in the cells themselves.
Diagnosis of Vitiligo
Vitiligo can usually be readily diagnosed without any special investigation. Most patients are otherwise healthy and the disorder is limited to the skin. However, many patients have had, or will have, increased or decreased function of the thyroid gland. If any symptoms suggest a thyroid disturbance this can easily be investigated by appropriate blood tests.
The Course of Vitiligo
Once vitiligo has appeared its course is erratic and unpredictable. The only statement which can be made with certainly is that it is very unlikely that vitiligo will entirely go away. Some patients remain stable without any progression for many years, while at the other extreme, some patients show rapid progression over only a few months.
Several studies involving years of observations of large number of patients have attempted to identify markers to allow prediction of the probable course in the individual patient. The only marker identified in this way is that if the vitiligo appears at the sites of trauma to the skin, such as an abrasion or scratchmark, then fairly rapid progression is more likely.
www.kerneluvb.com---The
leading manufacturer of UV phototherapy
Vitiligo is a disorder in which patches of white skin appear on various parts of the body. The skin is white because the cells responsible for producing brown pigment (melanocytes) have disappeared from the affected areas. Vitiligo is a common condition afflicting up to 2% of the population and although it may appear at any age, it most commonly commences in childhood or early adult-life.
Vitiligo is an inherited condition but it frequently skips generations so that only 60-80% of patients know of a family member with the condition. How a genetic defect leads to loss of pigment cells in the skin is only poorly understood. It appears that the immune defense system of the body recognizes the pigment cells as ¡°foreign¡± and not self and proceeds to kill them. The fact that only some pigment cells are killed and not all of them, suggest the defect lies in the cells themselves.
Diagnosis of Vitiligo
Vitiligo can usually be readily diagnosed without any special investigation. Most patients are otherwise healthy and the disorder is limited to the skin. However, many patients have had, or will have, increased or decreased function of the thyroid gland. If any symptoms suggest a thyroid disturbance this can easily be investigated by appropriate blood tests.
The Course of Vitiligo
Once vitiligo has appeared its course is erratic and unpredictable. The only statement which can be made with certainly is that it is very unlikely that vitiligo will entirely go away. Some patients remain stable without any progression for many years, while at the other extreme, some patients show rapid progression over only a few months.
Several studies involving years of observations of large number of patients have attempted to identify markers to allow prediction of the probable course in the individual patient. The only marker identified in this way is that if the vitiligo appears at the sites of trauma to the skin, such as an abrasion or scratchmark, then fairly rapid progression is more likely.
www.kerneluvb.com---The leading manufacturer of UV phototherapy