Skin Lightening Disease
According to the Mayo Clinic, vitiligo is a condition that causes skin lightening. In the United States, 1 to 2 million people have the disorder. Most people who have vitiligo will develop it before their 40th birthday.
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Effects
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Skin lightening results when the cells that make pigment are destroyed. This causes light patches to appear on the skin, tissues that line the mouth and nose, the retina of the eye and sometimes the hair that grows on affected areas.
Who Is Affected
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Vitiligo affects both men and women and all races but is more noticeable on dark skin. It also seems to run in families. According to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, 30 percent of people with vitiligo have a family member with the disorder.
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Causes
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Though the cause is not known, suspected triggers of vitiligo are emotional distress, sunburn or autoimmune disease that causes melanocytes (cells that make pigment) to die or destroy themselves.
Treatments
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In some cases, topical creams and photochemotherapy can return pigmentation to the skin. When more than 50 percent of the skin has lost pigment, depigmentation using topical medication may be recommended to fade normal skin to match the color of the lightened skin.
Considerations
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A sunscreen of 30SPF that protects against UVA and UVB will protect skin from damage and minimize the contrast between normal and depigmented skin. Camouflage makeup can be used to cover areas of lightened skin.
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References
- Photo Credit Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Nicole Makauskas
