Vitiligo

Vitiligo is a skin disease during which smooth white areas (called macules or patches) appear on a person’s skin. It generally starts on the hands, forearms, feet and face. Globally, about 1% approximately of the population has vitiligo.

What is vitiligo?

Vitiligo is a skin condition that causes the skin to lose its color. Smooth white areas (called macules if but 5mm or patches if 5mm or larger) appear on a person’s skin. If you’ve got vitiligo during a place that has hair, the hair on your body can also turn white.

The condition occurs when melanocytes (the skin cells that produce melanin, the chemical that provides skin its color, or pigmentation) are destroyed by the body’s system .

What are the types of vitiligo?

Vitiligo can be:

• Generalized, which is that the commonest type, when macules appear in various places on the body.
• Segmental, which is restricted to at least one side of the body or one area, like the hands or face.
• Mucosal, which affects mucous membranes of the mouth and/or the genitals.
• Focal, which may be a rare type during which the macules are during a small area and don’t spread during a certain pattern within one to 2 years.
• Trichome, which suggests that there’s a white or colorless center, then a neighborhood of lighter pigmentation, then a neighborhood of normally colored skin.
• Universal, another rare sort of vitiligo, and one during which quite 80% of the skin of the body lacks pigment.