Piece by: ASHLEY OTIENO

26 June 2023

• Vitiligo is a skin condition that affects people and it is at times confused to ski burns because they look the same.

June 25th is usually World Vitiligo Day and unknown to many people this is a skin condition that can affect anyone.

Vitiligo is a chronic autoimmune disorder that causes some patches of skin to lose color causing it to turn a milky white color.

By autoimmune we mean that normally your immune system is supposed to fight disease-attacking cells but in vitiligo the immune system attacks the healthy body tissues.

It usually starts out as white patches on the skin either on one part of the body then spreads this is called segmented appearance.

This one is very rare and it appears at an early age and may last for 6-12 months before it disappears.

While in others it appears symmetrically on both sides of the body e.g. both hands and at times it may spread and cover a large area progressing rapidly.

This particular disease has no cure and it may also be contracted genetically if anyone in the family has it.

Vitiligo can start from early childhood but in most people it has appeared before the age of 20 .

Certain auto immune diseases can also cause someone to get the vitiligo condition:

Addison’s disease.
Pernicious anemia.
Psoriasis.
Rheumatoid arthritis.
Systemic lupus erythematosus.
Thyroid disease.
Type 1 diabetes.

Vitiligo naturally shows either on the body parts while others it occurs on the areas with hair like eyebrows, head, eyelashes getting patches and for some it occurs in the membranes like inside the mouth or nose.

Vitiligo for some people causes them to have a low self esteem because of their appearance because it is almost similar to burn wounds.

Some get inflammation either in the eye, ear in terms of swelling.

Not everyone's vitiligo is also caused by family genetics or the auto immune conditions for some it is caused by sunburn or exposure to a chemical .