Vitiligo
Vitiligo (or leukoderma) is the patchy loss of skin pigmentation due to an auto-immune attack by the body's own immune system on skin melanocytes. It frequently begins in late adulthood, with patches of unpigmented skin appearing on extremities. The patches may grow or remain constant in size. Occasional small areas may repigment as they are recolonised by melanocytes. The population incidence is between 1% and 2%.
The condition is medically harmless, other than the problem that the affected skin areas have no protection against sunlight - they burn but never tan. However, if the skin is naturally dark, the visual effect of the white patches may be considered disfiguring by some. (If the affected person is pale-skinned, the patches can be at least be made less visible by avoiding sunlight and the tanning of affected skin.) The location of vitiligo affected skin changes over time, with some patches re-pigmenting and others becoming affected.
