People with Vitiligo - Vitiligo Cure - Vitiligo Treatment

Albinism is a familial disease characterized by the complete or
partial absence of melanin pigment. Vitiligo is also a skin disease in
which melanocytes(melanin forming cells) are destroyed and as a result
white patches are appear in different parts of  body of affected
person.

Albinism and vitiligo are occasionally confused with each other but
they are relatively different and unrelated disease entities. Albinism
is a hereditary disease while vitiligo is an auto-immune disorder.
Albinism is a stable and incurable disease while vitiligo is curable.
Albinism arises as a result of biochemical imperfection in the
production of melanin pigment whereas vitiligo crops up as a result of
auto-immune demolition of melanocytes.

Albinism is of two types, one in which melanin containing areas of
body (i.e. skin, hair and eyes ) of an individual are affected and
second is ocular albinism in which only eyes are affected. Such a
person may not be able to see in bright light.

People with vitiligo often experience psychological and emotional problems. Sometimes these people may feel that they seem ugly to other people because of their discoloration. This type of feeling often leads to loss of self confidence and self esteem. They think they are worthless so they stop meeting other people and avoid social activities. There may be a tendency to attribute all the sufferings in their lives to Vitiligo.

On the other hand you will find a whole lot of people who have Vitiligo and still are reasonably successful and happy with very little emotional and social problems, these people who do not care about their vitiligo. You might have met a few of them!

Whatever the reasons may be, you can’t disagree that Vitiligo does not hurt all the victims equally. And if it brings less hurt to some people, why can’t you be one of these lucky ones?

It is quite possible that some of the unpleasant things in your life might be due to reasons other than your Vitiligo, and these “other reasons” may be more manageable than your Vitiligo. If you start focusing more on these “other reasons” and rectify the problems, you will start having much better luck in your life. May be you become so successful that people start looking up at you! That may also bring favorable changes to your psyche as well and your approach towards Vitiligo may also turn more positive. You can look up the list of famous people who have Vitiligo and find out how they have managed to get along. Michael Jackson and Amitabh Bachan cab be taken as leading examples.

Here are some points that will help you build self confidence in general.

1. Try to make eye contact with your fellows.

2. Talk to your friends and family members and seek help in building self-esteem.

3. Ask for professional help if required. It can be taken from psychologists, doctors, support groups and social workers.

4. Try to learn about Vitiligo and explore all the treatment options and alternatives.

According to two articles in the October issue of The Archives of Dermatology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals; people who have stable vitiligo can achieve good re-pigmentation by transplanting their own skin from normally pigmented areas of the body.

These articles state that vitiligo is primarily the most common skin pigment disorders and about 1% of the world population is suffering from this skin disorder. Vitiligo’s psychosocial impact is often underestimated. There are several treatment methods for vitiligo but the standard treatment for vitiligo is UV light therapy and this therapy can last for several months. Transplantation of skin cells is another alternative option for the treatment of vitiligo.

Nanny van Geel, M.D., of Ghent University Hospital, Belgium, and colleagues researched about the effectiveness of using transplanted pigment cells to treat 28 patients with vitiligo. They divided patient into two groups: patients with stable vitiligo (no new de-pigmented patches in the past 12 months, n = 19) and patients with progressive vitiligo (n = 9). The researchers selected 33 pairs of de-pigmented skin patches on the patients, they randomly selected a patch and assigned it to be treated with grafted pigment cells and the other was given a sham transplant. They took this skin from normally pigmented area of the skin. After three weeks of the surgery, all patches were given UV light therapy twice a week for almost two months.

When the researchers analyzed the skin they found that there was a major difference between pigment cells graft sites and placebo graft sites after three, six and twelve months.

The results of this research were like this, one of the group of patients with stable vitiligo re-pigmentation of at least 70 percent of the treated area was achieved in 55 percent, 57 percent and 77 percent of the actively treated lesions at three, six and twelve months after treatment. Whereas in the other group re-pigmentation of at least 70 percent was not achieved at any time point, re-pigmentation was diffuse on 94 percent of responding patients.

The authors wrote that, “After a strict preoperative selection for disease stability, transplantation resulted in re-pigmentation of at least 70 percent of the treated area in most actively treated vitiligo lesions.”

In another research study conducted at the the Noble Clinic, Pune, India, Sanjeev V. Mulekar (M.D.) investigated the long-term effectiveness of skin cell transplantation in sixty seven vitiligo patients. He used a mixture of melanocytes (melanin producing cells) and keratinocytes (structural skin cells) taken from normally-pigmented area on the patients’ own bodies. Patients were followed up for five years.

Dr. Mulekar found that 41 patients (which were 84 percent of the total) with segmental vitiligo had 95 percent to 100 percent re-pigmentation in the treated areas. In patients with focal vitiligo, 73 percent showed an excellent response at the end of their respective follow-up period. “Melanocyte-keratinocyte cell transplantation is a simple, safe, and effective surgical therapy,” Dr. Mulekar writes. “Patients with segmental and focal vitiligo can experience a prolonged disease-free period, which may extend through the rest of their lives.”

Source: http://www.archdermatol.com

The diagnosis of vitiligo is based on a physical examination, medical history, and laboratory tests but mostly people can identify it, just in a glance; due to the presentation of white patches by the skin in its surface. These white patches are very obvious among the clear symptoms of  vitiligo. Following are the some common symptoms of this disease.

• The primary symptom of vitiligo is the loss of skin pigment, which result in the formation of milky-white sports (depigmentation) in the skin.

• These patches are commonly found at the body area exposed to the sunlight, such as the hands, feet, arms, face, and lips.

• The other common skin areas, which can suffer from vitiligo, are the armpits, inner lining of mouth, eyes, nostrils, navel, genitals, and rectal areas.

• Hair growing from the affected skin surface also loss their natural color and turn in to gray or white. Such pigment abnormalities is also observed in the retina or iris of the eyes.

• This skin disorder is usually progressive. The shape and position of affected skin area do not always remain confined. In some cases these patches develop at the fix area of skin, while in other these sports may distribute at different places in different shape and size with the passage of time.

• In some people, vitiligo spreads slowly, over many years. For other people, spreading occurs rapidly.

• The natural course of vitiligo is difficult to predict. Sometimes these patches disappear quickly without any treatment, while in other cases they may remain same.

• Vitiligo does not cause any physical discomfort to the affected skin, such as itching, rash or pain etc; but mostly people with vitiligo may feel very distressed and unhappy due to the change appearance of their skin.

How can people live with vitiligo?

Regardless of a person’s race, gender, and culture, vitiligo affects on the emotions and psyche of all. Normally, people living with vitiligo loss their self-confidence and change their life style. They become inactive in their social activities. Some people with vitiligo feel embarrassed, ashamed, depressed, or worried about how others will react.
But fortunately, there are several medical & alternative treatments for vitiligo that can not only minimize the white patches but also eliminate them. The following are some other measure that can help vitiligo people in coping with this disease.
Vitiligo people should talk with other people who have vitiligo because it may help them to learn more about it.
The National Vitiligo Foundation provides a lot of information about vitiligo and refers the local guidance for the vitiligo patients, for their families, friends and physicians; vitiligo people should also concern with it
Some people with vitiligo use cosmetics in order to cover white patches, by doing so they improve their appearance and feel better.
Normally, People getting Vitiligo remain ignorant and do not take the common signs of vitiligo like; premature whitening or graying of the hair on your scalp, eyelashes, eyebrows or beard, seriously. So it’s highly recommended them that they should pay attention on themselves and go to dermatologist in order to treat it.

Vitiligo is harmless skin disorder and is not infectious at all. It is a generalized abnormality of immune system, which results in derangement of normal defense mechanisms of body against infection. The body starts producing antibodies against pigment producing cells of its own skin. This damage of pigment producing cells (melanocytes) manifests as milky white patches in the skin; which have reduced, or no pigment.

Normally people assume two meanings about vitiligo cure. One is the complete annihilation of Vitiligo and the other is getting back the original color of the skin.As for as total annihilation of vitiligo from the body is concern, it is not so simple matter; because there is no known vitiligo cure and its exact causes. But It does not mean that one can not get rid of these white patches. The cure from white patches is definatly possible. One can manage the local manifestations (white patches) by using oral or topical treatments and anti-vitiligo medicines. Various alternative treatments are also being utilized for vitiligo cure like; herbal remedies, photo-therapy, PUVA, Laser technology and surgical methods.

The all difficulties in cure for vitiligo is due to the lack of information about vitiligo and its casuses. The present reserches on vitiligo cures showes that melanocytes inability to perform its proper work, is the major factor for depigmentation in skin. But medical technology has proved that, vitiligo people can stimulate the working and production of melanocytes cells by doing self-care, using multivitamin B-complex, Folic Acid, Vitamin E, Vitamin D ointment, fruits containing vitamin C and balanced diet.

People with vitiligo can go for medical treatment or Natural treatment (Herbal.) for its cure. These treatments depend on the size and condition of white patches in the skin. Vitiligo therapies for every individual is different and usually it may take period of six to eighteen months.