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Disease Paper

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Submitted By maria2004kzn
Words 1058
Pages 5
Today, there are many diseases people have to deal with. Some of them are treatable and some of them are permanent. One of the visible autoimmune diseases is vitiligo. Vitiligo occurs when melanocytes die or stop producing the pigment that gives a skin, hair, and eye color. When people have vitiligo the skin becomes whiter, and it usually occurs on skin on both sides of the body. The exact trigger is not known, but it relates to the immune system to attack, destroy the melanin-forming cells because of the family history, sunburn, stress, or exposure to chemicals. It can happen at any age, but usually occurs before the age 20.
In the article “For Vitiligo Patient, Arthritis Drug Restores Skin Color” from June 24, 2015 says that a medication for treating rheumatoid arthritis has given the color back to the skin in a patient with vitiligo. It is reported that steroid creams and light therapy are not as effective in reversing the pigmentation. Yale investigators decided to use FDA-approved medication (Janus kinase inhibitors). The patient was given tofacitinib, before this medication the patient’s white spots were increasing. After two months the results were seen, patient had repigmentation on the face, arms, and hands. After five months, this white spots were almost gone; the patient had only several white spots left on the body. There were no negative results seen using tofacitinib. The scientists believe that this could be a breakthrough in the treatment of vitiligo. Brett King, M.D., assistant professor of dermatology and principal investigator of the research said that “While it’s one case, we anticipated the successful treatment of this patient based on our current understanding of the disease and how the drug works.” Of cause King still wants to make sure that the drug is safe before letting to use it worldwide.
There is no need to treat vitiligo. Some people may feel insecure and might not able to wear certain clothes. In addition, vitiligo has a psychological effect. In order to have better results from treatment early it was started the treatment the better. This disease may affect anyone whether the person popular or not. This is happened to Michael Jackson, the famous singer. He was diagnosed with vitiligo in 1986. During those times people were not so familiar with vitiligo but they noticed that the singer was becoming whiter and whiter. Jackson tried different methods like creams and ultraviolet light, but his vitiligo continued to grow. After that he got treated with a drug called “inaudible.” Using this drug his whole skin became whiter and whiter. The drawback is that Jackson had to hide from sun because this drug was leaving the skin unprotected to ultraviolet light. There are many different treatments available on the websites some of them are FDA approved and some of them are not. It is difficult to say what will help one might not do the same for the other person. The natural treatments are available through Merry clinic. They offer two types of treatments, internally and externally. For internal they offer Vitilax herbal formula which contains 14 different Chinese herbs. They work together to balance and stimulate the immune system and repigmentation. It says that the “Vitilax Capsule is clinically proven to permanently control vitiligo at all stages” (http://www.merryclinic.com/vitiligo/treatment.htm). In addition to internal there is an external Vitilax Skin Oil is used to patch white spots on the skin, which helps to stimulate the skin to produce more pigment. They say that in the early stages the success rate is over 90%. In case where white patches cover less than 5% it takes 3-4 months, and in severe cases the results are seen in 4-6 months after the treatment. It is also says that repigmentation is permanent.
Other treatments are offered on mayoclinic.org, which can improve the skin’s appearance. They are creams that control inflammation. Topical corticosteroids may help to repigment the skin if used on the early stages of the vitiligo. A form of vitamin D is used with corticosteroids and ultraviolet skin. The side effect is dry skin, rash, or itching. In addition, there are ointments that contain tacrolimus or pimecrolimus, which are used on small areas. There are also a treatment that is used as a combination medication and light therapy. The patient will need to take in or apply medication called psoralen. After that, the patient exposed to ultraviolet A or UVA light. The skin turns pink and more normal skin color started to appear. It takes six to 12 months. The risk is that the skin might have bad sunburn, blistering, itching, over darkening, or risk of skin cancer. Another option is surgery, which is done by removing a small section of the skin and moving it to affected areas. This procedure called skin grafting. Lastly, the tattooing is used, when a doctor uses a surgical instrument to implant pigment in the skin. The negative part is that it is quite difficult to match the skin color, and tattoos tend to fade with time. Sometimes this technique causes more vitiligo patches.
In conclusion, whether to treat vitiligo or leave it untreated, it is each every person’s decision. In today’s world with many resources available there is no exact cure for this autoimmune disease, which is really sad. I think that it is not a very popular topic since people are not going to die and it is not a disease, which will affect others if to become in contact. The main things that people should do are use sunscreen on the white spots. This white spot never tan, they simply burn under the sun. It is also good to try to stop the vitiligo process by analyzing how did it happen that one got affected. It may be recommended to take the certain supplements such as vitamin B supplements.

Work Cited

1. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/260089.php 2. http://www.medicinenet.com/vitiligo/article.htm 3. http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/vitiligo/basics/causes/con-20032007 4. http://www.truemichaeljackson.com/health/vitiligo/ 5. http://www.merryclinic.com/vitiligo/treatment.htm 6. http://www.symptomview.com/symptom-of-vitiligo.html 7. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/06/150624115442.htm 8. “Human Biology” Sylvia S. Mader, Michael Windelspecht

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