Thursday, March 10, 2011

A Brief Description and History of Vitiligo

In my last post, I gave a short introduction to who I am and why I am writing this blog, as well as a look into what I am going to cover in the posts that lay ahead. What I did not do was give any background information on the disease or its history, but that is where this post comes in to play. In the following two paragraphs I will briefly detail what scientists believe causes Vitiligo and Vitiligo's historical significance so far.

The Disease
Vitiligo is an auto-immune disease of the skin where "melanocytes (the cells that make pigment) in the skin are destroyed". "Proteins called cytokines" are the ones that "alter pigment-producing cells and cause these cells to die". This is the cause of the white skin discolorations that occur randomly on the body. It should be noted from my own experience and from the Vitiligo Article on medicinenet.com, that hair growing in these spots can sometimes be a white or blonde color. Vitiligo affects ".5 to 1 percent of the world's population, or as many as 65 million people" and "1 to 2 million" of that is in the United States alone. While doctors and researchers do not know exactly how the disease is acquired, "there is strong evidence that people with Vitiligo inherit a group of three genes that make them susceptible to depigmentation". All information quoted here was taken from medicinenet.com or source [1].



History
According to the History of Vitiligo page on www.vitiligoguide.com, evidence of this disease dates back to as early as 2200 BC. The page also says that the disease "has long been confused with leprosy" and the name Vitiligo is "derived from the Latin word 'vitelius' which means calf". [3] While Vitiligo certainly hasn't been dormant for all the years between then and now, it wasn't really reported on heavily until the 90's when it saw excessive media coverage due to Michael Jackson and Amitabh Bachan becoming affected. [3] But according to the article "Vitiligo in history: Henry Moss" on vitiligocover.com, a man named Henry Moss was a subject of much attention during the 18th and 19th century. Born in Virginia, Henry Moss was an African American man who had an onset of vitiligo at the age of 38. While it started on his hands, it eventually spread to cover most of his body and Moss decided to take advantage of his strange predicament. "He exhibited his body for a fee in taverns in the Philadelphia area as well as before the American Philosophical Society." He was dubbed the "man who was born 'entirely black' but after thirty eight years had 'become as white and fair as any white person'." [2] So there is evidence of publicity and coverage of the disease all the way back to the 18th and 19th centuries.

Works Cited

[1] http://www.medicinenet.com/vitiligo/article.htm . Government sourced.  1996-2011. Date of access: 3/10/11
[2] http://vitiligocover.com/vitiligo-in-history-henry-moss/ . Nathalie. 2004-2011. Date of Access: 2/28/2011
[3] http://www.vitiligoguide.com/vitiligo-history/ . 2008 . Date of Access: 2/28/11

1 comment:

  1. Hi Griffin! I have really enjoyed learning about this disease. I had actually not been sure if Micheal Jackson having a disease that made him white was actually true before I read your blog. I find skin diseases fairly interesting because I found out a few years ago that I have Rosacea. I look forward to discovering more about Vitiligo.

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