Vitiligo

[Tall_James]

how come Vitiligo only affects certain areas of the body on some people? And are they anywhere close to a cure?

[Dr Steve]

On the opposite end of the spectrum, how come Vitiligo only affects certain areas of the body on some people? And are they anywhere close to a cure?

You're exactly right...Vitiligo is the inverse of incontinentia pigmenti; it's the loss of melanin from certain parts of the skin. As far as I know, no one knows why it affects only certain parts of the body...it's just a mystery. I mean, what's different from the skin of one hand (that might be affected) and the skin of the other hand (that isn't)?

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ywR-FG6vfmI/SdIJvDLFJ_I/AAAAAAAABzs/rQjpTum6Mus/s320/Vitiligo.jpg

There are indeed treatments for Vitiligo, including steroid injections, photochemotherapy (psoralens plus ultraviolet light), and even skin grafting. One way to make it less noticeable is to remove the pigment from the rest of your skin so that it all matches. It turns out it's easier to remove the pigment from the visible skin than it is to re-add pigment to the patches.

[sr71blackbird]

Do people with this condition have those patches on their inside skin too?