BY: AARRONN Q. , C. J. , RICHARD D. , AND ANDREA D.

VITILIGO

What is Vitiligo?

Vitiligo is a disorder that causes the skin to have white patches in various places of the body.

Symptoms

The symptoms are white patches on the skin mostly where the skin is exposed to the sun.

Some people with vitiligo will get gray hair early in life.

Symptoms

People with darker skin who have this disorder may notice some change of color in their mouths.

vitiligo

Symptoms

Vitiligo can also affect the eyes by color or vision.

Causes

The reason for this disorder is because the cells that control the pigment of your skin, melanocytes, are destroyed when your immune system attacks a part of your body.

Causes

Researchers are still not sure of why this happens but some suspect that stress or sunburns may have something to do with it. However this is not proven.

Cures?

As of right now there is no cure to vitiligo, but there are several treatments for it.

However these treatments have their drawbacks. They sometimes don’t work, have negative side effects, or just take a really long time.

A person with the disorder though can live perfectly fine without treatment though.

Prevention

Since researchers don’t understand how vitiligo originates they don’t know how it can possibly be prevented.

What can be done?

Treatments for Vitiligo

Steroids, creams, and pills.Skin grafts.Tatooing some small areas.Sunscreen and cosemetics.Counseling and support.

Famous People with Vitiligo

Michael Jackson- Used makeup to cover up blotches.

Famous People with Vitiligo

Holly Combs- Actress from the movie Charmed who has vitiligo on her hands only. She never used any treatment to try and fix it.

Key Terms

Vitiligo- A condition in which a loss of cells that give color to the skin results in smooth white patches in the midst of normally pigmented skin.

Melanin- A pigment found in melanocytes that control hair, eye, and skin color.

Pigment- A small cell containing coloring matter.

Key Terms

Integument- The outer protective covering of the body of an organism. (a.k.a.-the skin)

Melanocytes- The cells that make pigments.

Ultraviolet- A continuous spectrum that is beyond the violet end of the visible spectrum.

Skin Pigmentation- Coloration of the skin.

Work Cited

Infohttp

://www.niams.nih.gov/Health_Info/Vitiligo/vitiligo_ff.asp

http://www.vitiligos.com/people-with-vitiligo/famous-people/

Key Termshttp://www.biology-online.org/dictionary

Work Cited

Photos http://www.vitsaf.org http://www.skincaremoz.com http://www.avrf.org http://www.psoria-shield.com http://www.medicinenet.com http://www.ehalthfor.blogspot

.com http://www.drpeggymalone.c

om http://www.amillionlives.net http://www.americaspodiatris

t.com http://www.americanskin.org http://www.progressivehealth

.hubpages.com http://www.vitiligohelper.com http://www.ingridsick.hubpag

es.com http://www.healthcentral.com