People with Vitiligo - Vitiligo Cure

The researchers from St George’s, University of London, the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center (UCDHSC) and the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes have revealed a link between gene and vitiligo plus other autoimmune diseases.

They analyzed two independent groups of families enrolled from 1996 – 2005 and obtained samples from a total of 656 Caucasian individuals from 114 extended families with vitiligo and other autoimmune diseases from America and the UK.

When the researchers started studying vitiligo they found that vitiligo patients had a risk of developing other autoimmune diseases, as do their relative, even those without vitiligo.

Researchers while searching the genome found that a key gene (NALP1) was involved in predisposing to vitiligo and other autoimmune diseases that ran in these families. NALP1 is a gene that controls the part of the immune system which is responsible for alerting the body about the viral and bacterial attacks.

During this research they got the answer of why the immune system attacks body’s own tissues. The answer was over-reactivity of the sensor NALP1. The over-reactivity of NALP1 could trigger a response to the wrong stimulus. All the samples and information collected from patients were sent to University of Colorado for analysis.

Richard Spritz lead investigator for this study said that NALP1 for the first time has been specifically implicated in autoimmune diseases. “Since NALP1 appears to be part of our body’s early-warning system for viral or bacterial attack, this gives us ideas about how to try to discover the environmental triggers of these diseases. This finding may also open up new approaches to treatment, possibly for many different autoimmune diseases.” he added.

Dr. Spritz and his team are planning soon begin arranging a clinical trial of a new treatment for vitiligo based on the discovery of NALP1. Dr. Spriztz anticipates labs using the information from the UCDHSC study to replicate or test the results in patients with other autoimmune diseases to see how broad potential applications might be.

“All diseases are complex, the result of different genes and environmental risk factors acting together in concert. But if NALP1 turns out to be one of the major genes involved in numerous autoimmune diseases, and if we can interrupt its negative effects, we may have the chance to treat many different chronic autoimmune disorders like vitiligo, lupus and psoriasis and perhaps eventually eliminate them altogether,” said Dr. Spritz.

Source: http://www.sgul.ac.uk

Vitiligo is a fairly common, chronic skin condition which is characterized by the appearance of irregular patches that have a color, which is lighter and paler than that of the native skin. It is estimated that roughly one in every hundred people is suffering from this disorder across the globe.

The patches of vitiligo can be extremely variable in their appearance. They can vary in their sizes, their shapes, the intensity of their color loss and also in the pattern of their distribution.

The loss of color in vitiligo is because of a reduction in the population of color producing cells, which are called melanocytes.
But why exactly does this reduction in the number of melanocytes take place, is quite complex and obscure to some extent as well.
The available scientific data indicates that it results from an interaction of multiple factors. A genetic predisposition towards Vitiligo is a fairly well known phenomenon, but auto-immunity and environmental factors also have their own shares to contribute.

Vitiligo can have a profound effect on the emotional and psychological well being of the victim. This is particularly more significant in people with a darker skin, because the difference in color of the affected, and the normal skin can be very drastic.
People suffering from vitiligo may even be stigmatized in certain societies, with obvious difficulties in a meaningful and positive social interaction. These people may have difficulties in finding partners, and also in making a successful career in public professions.

People with vitiligo can hence feel depressed both because of such stigmas as well as due to the dramatic change in their appearance. But that is not a rule. There are numerous people who do not experience any negative psychological effects of vitiligo at all.
If you have vitiligo, you can feel assured however, that
· It poses no danger to your life
· It is not contagious and
· It is not a pre-cancerous condition.
· The only physical discomfort that you can have due to this condition is intolerance to bright sun light, but that also becomes a concern only when a very large area of affected skin is exposed to sunlight directly.

The appearance of vitiligo is quite typical and its diagnosis is not usually difficult. Your doctor may however examine your skin under a special kind of light known as the Wood’s lamp to be surer. A skin biopsy may be required only in very rare instances. But that is not common. If you have been diagnosed to suffer from vitiligo, there is no reason to panic. It may not spread any further, or it may even regress on its own. If the patch is a small one and you have either not started a treatment or else the treatment has not started working as yet, you can even cover it with makeup or other cosmetic camouflage techniques.

If you consult a dermatologist for vitiligo, you will most probably get a prescription for a corticosteroid cream. Such creams can be very effective, but this benefit is usually temporary, and not without unwanted effects. It is not unlikely that you find yourself disappointed with the outcome.

Phototherapy with Ultraviolet A, alone, or in combination with psoralen therapy, known as PUVA, is also gaining popularity with variable reports of effectivity.
Surgical transplantation of melanocytes is another new option, which has shown some promise but is very expensive, and still in its experimental stages.

Vitiligo is one such disorder where herbal remedies are more popular than the prescription medicine. That is mainly because herbal products are more economical, more tolerable and not less effective than the steroid cream. Certain herbal products have claimed permanent re-pigmentation of the affected skin as well, and they have numerous clients to testify their claims also.
We can summarize hence in the end that there are some half a dozen options for managing your vitiligo, and you can even have the liberty to pick and choose the one that suits you best.