More Related Content
Similar to Vitiligo Treatment (20)
Vitiligo Treatment
- 1. WhatisVitiligo?
Vitiligoisaskindisorderthatcausespatchesofwhiteskintoappearondifferentpartsofthe
body.Itcanoccurinanyone,andaffectsallracesandbothgendersequally.Worldwide,about
100millionpeoplesufferfromthisconditionanditsprevalenceintheUnitedStatesis
estimatedtobearound1%.
WhatCausesVitiligo?
Invitiligo,thecellsresponsibleforgivingtheskin'sitscolor(themelanocytes)aredestroyed,
hencetheappearanceofwhitepatches.Theremaybeseveralfactorsthatcancausethese
cellstobedestroyed,andsometimestheexactcauseisunknown.Itisbelievedthatvitiligomay
beanautoimmunedisease,whichcausestheimmunesystemtostartattackingthe
melanocytes.Itcanalsoariseduetoadisorderinthemelanocytesthemselves,causingthemto
triggerpathwaysthatresultin'cellsuicide'.Someresearchersalsobelievethatsunburnand
chronicstresscancausevitiligo.
SymptomsofVitiligo
Themainsymptomsofvitiligoarewhitepatchesontheskin.Thesepatchesoftenspreadand
becomelargerwithtime.Therateofspreadingishighlyvariable-somepeoplereportveryquick
spreadingwhileinotherstheyspreadslowlyoverseveralyears.Thesepatchestendtobefound
mostlyontheareasthatareexposedtothesun,suchasthehands,feet,faceandaroundthe
lips.However,theyarealsocommonlyfoundinthearmpitsandgroin,atthenavel,inthegenital
area,andatthenostrils.Inaddition,peoplewithvitiligooftensufferfromearlygrayingofthe
hair.
DiagnosisofVitiligo
Whitepatchesofskinaretell-talesignsofvitiligo,butthereareotherfactorsthatconfirmthis
diagnosis.Theseincludewhetherthepatienthasaparentwhosuffersfromvitiligo,whether
autoimmunediseasesruninthefamily,andwhetherthepatientexperiencedgreyhairbefore
theageof35.Sometimes,abiopsyandabloodtestwillbeusedtoruleoutothermedical
conditions.
- 2. HowisVitiligoTreated?
Treatmentforvitiligoisstillahighly-researchedandchangingarea.Treatmentwilldependon
theextentofthecondition,andalsohowmuchthepatientcanafford,asmanytreatmentstend
tobeveryexpensive.Inaddition,eventhemostspecializedtreatmentsarenotalwayseffective
andareassociatedwithanumberofsideeffects.
Usually,oneofthefirsttreatmentoptionsrecommendedissteroidtherapyand/or
immunomodulators.However,boththesepharmaceuticaltreatmentscanonlybeusedinthe
shorttermandarenotoriouslyineffectiveandsufferfromahighincidenceofsideeffects.
Anothertreatmentoptioninvolvestheuseofultravioletlightcoupledwithmedications.
However,thisinvolvesbi-ortri-weeklyvisitstoaspecializedclinicforweeksormonths,isvery
expensive,andsideeffectsincludeeyedamageandanincreasedriskofskincancer.
Yetanothertreatmentoptioninvolvessurgicalskingrafting,butsometimesthiscausesskin
traumathatendsupaggravatingvitiligoevenmore.Forverysmallpatchesofwhiteskin,tattoos
aresometimesusedtocovertheseup.
Itisinterestingtonotethatasearlyasthe1980's,medicalresearchershadreportedthatthey
curedpeopleofvitiligousingherbalextracts,megadosesofvitaminsoracombinationofherbs
andvitamins.Severalsuchreportswerealsopublishedinthe1990s;forexample,therewasa
groupofSwedishdoctorswhocuredpatientsoftheirvitiligoinjust3weeksusingonlyvitamin
supplementation.However,nowadayssuchresearchhasbeenhiddenbothfromthegeneral
publicandfromthescientificcommunityitself.Thisisbecausethereistoomuchmoney
involvedinthemoreexpensivetreatments,andindeedvitiligoaccountsforalargechunkofthe
pharmaceuticalandmedicalindustry'sannualrevenue.Doctorswhoknowaboutthenatural
curesforvitiligowillnotmentionitasdoingsowillcausethemtomissoutonthousandsof
dollarsfromeachpatient.Worse,youngdoctorsmayneverknowaboutthenaturalalternative,
asthisresearchhasbeenremovedfromallmodernmedicaltextbooks.
Duetothepharmaceuticalandmedicalindustry'swide-reachinginfluenceandthemoney
involvedforallhealthprofessionalswhodealwithvitiligo,veryfewarewillingtopublicize
findingsthatvitiligocanindeedbetreatednaturally,safely,extremelycheaplyandinjustafew
weeks.OneofthesefewmedicalresearcherswhodarestogoagainstthecurrentisMichael
Dawson,aUK-basedresearcherandcertifiednutritionistwhoisdoingalotofworktotryto