Vitiligo
Vitiligo is derived from Latin world ‘vitelius’ means calf. Roman physician named Celsus is the first person that used this word in the 2nd century A.D. In ancient time people consider that the disease is linked up with the disease ‘leprosy’. After the information obtained from “Tarikh-e-tibbe-iran” during the period of Aushooryan (2200 BC), it was cleared that the disease concept is different from leprosy.
Vitiligo is a skin discoloration that appears due to the absence of melanin cells in skin. The disease covers almost 50 million people of the world which makes 2 percent of world population. The chances of appearance of disease are equal in both male & female, of any age, culture, and race.
Sign & Symptoms of vitiligo:
- Appearance of white patches on skin areas,
- Premature graying of hairs color,
- Involvement of skin mucous membrane & retina of eyes,
- The whitish patches can be appeared on different skin areas but the most affected areas are those that mostly exposed to sun rays. Approximately 12% people get indulge in vitiligo due to the sun exposed.
- Vitiligo can also be diagnosed by the loss of color of hairs with graying of scalp hair, eyebrows, eyelashes or hair in other affected areas.
Vitiligo Causes:
The disease major cause is the less production of melanin cells in skin. Human body acquires some special cells known as ‘melanocytes’. These cells produce melanin cells in skin. Melanin cells are acted as sunscreen to protect skin color from ultra violet rays of sun & also produce pigment cells in skin. Pigments cells determine skin coloration and give skin a natural color. Loss or deficit in production of melanin cells in skin can be a cause of skin discoloration.
The other major causes of skin discoloration are heredity, dietary deficiency, sun exposure, physical illness, medication affects on health, GIT factors disorder, thyroxin gland disorder etc.
Heredity:
People have been getting involved in vitiligo due to the family history of being associated with the disease. In heredity with the transfer of an autosomel gene in irregular way 25 to 30 % people acquire vitiligo disease symptoms. On one sided if person acquires disease in heredity then on other side it is not necessary.
Dietary Deficiency:
Nutritious elements build a solid foundation for the human body growth & development. Without nutritious factors skin cells & tissues becomes dehydrated and their deficiency can leads to skin discoloration.
Sun exposure:
Sensitive skin people get involved in vitiligo due to excessive sun exposure. Sun ultra violet rays wipe out all the skin moisturizer.
Vitiligo classification:
The disease is classified as following:
Focal Vitiligo: one or more skin areas lose their pigment in a localized place.
Mucosal Vitiligo: vitiligo is limited only to mucosal membranes of skin.
Mixed Vitiligo: more than one patterns of distribution are found in the same individual i.e. amalgamation of segmental and acro-facial vitiligo.
Universal or Complete, vitiligo: Complete removal of pigmentary substances from the skin.
Vitiligo Vulgaris: widely distributed of vitiligo symptoms on skin whole body parts.
Acro-facial Vitiligo: Depigmentation occurs on body parts such as face, head, hands and feet.
Cure of vitiligo:
The query comes in mind if Vitiligo is curable? The answer is ‘NO’. American Vitiligo Research Foundation declares that the disease is incurable. All treatments purpose is the reproduction of melanin cells in skin.
Vitiligo Treatments:
The treatments options are depend on the nature of skin affected area, patient’s age, patient’s medical history, a rash, premature graying of hairs, etc/
- Ayurvedic treatment,
- Oral Psoralen therapy,
- Skin transplantation,
- Photochemotherapy,
- PUVA treatment,
- Topical Psoralen therapy
- Skin grafting via blisters etc
Medical Therapies
PUVA treatment:
PUVA is a contraction of psoralen and ultra violet. This treatment is followed by the exposure of ultraviolet (UVA) light by the use of surgical lamps. It is the most trustable and famous treatment that are widely used in world wide. The treatment major prominence is on the reproduction of pigments in skin. Psoralen is an organic substance which is given to patients of vitiligo before the treatment begins. The major side effects of PUVA are skin cells damages, loss of eye vision, severe skin patches on skin, skin cancer. Children’s who are under age of 18 should avoid to take any type of photochemotherapy.
Topical steroid therapy:
Usually steroids are considered very dangerous. Corticosteroids are known as cluster of drugs that produced from adrenal glands. It is the simplest & safest healing for the reproduction of melanin producing cells in skin. Skin shrinkage or severe lines, marks on skin are the major side effects of Corticosteroids.
Surgical Therapies
Autologous skin grafts
In this treatment skin pigments cells are taken from any part of body with the procedure of surgical tools and transfer it to depigmented parts of body. Treatment principle is the reproduction of pigment cells in depigmented body areas. It is difficult to forecast that with what ratio this treatment is successful but it consist of a lot of side effects, in which major one is sever marks / patches on skin.
Micro pigmentation (tattooing):
Tattooing is supportive treatment for the vitiligo patients. It is done with artificial pigments which are injected into the skin, by way of traditional tattooing needles. It is mature technique for the skin color matching and known as camouflage technique.
Skin grafts using blisters:
In this treatment pigment cells are artificially produced in depigmented parts of body by using blisters. With refer to autologous skin grafting it is difficult to ascertain how much it is successful.
Natural Treatments
Allopathic Treatment:
Allopathic treatment is done with the usage of herbal products, (Natural Remedies) to treat vitiligo. The medicines that are used in Allopathic treatment are producing from natural herbs free from chemicals and are suitable for every type of skin.
Adjunctive Treatments
Sun creams & Cosmetics:
Less skin sensitive people who have vitiligo patches on skin should apply sun creams & lotions while facing the sun. Market is full of many sun creams but it is advised that patients should use herbal sun creams as they have no side effects and free from chemicals. Many Vitiligo patients especially women use cosmetic products such as creams and self tanning lotions to conceal vitiligo symproms.
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