Homeopathic Clinic, Patient # 265 –                                     Vitiligo.

Vitiligo is a health condition when patches of skin lose their colour. When there are little or no pigmentation on the body, Vitiligo patches appear on the skin. Vitiligo can effect people of any age, gender or ethic group. Up till now there is no cure for Vitiligo., and it is usually lifelong condition.  It appears when Melanocytes cells die with in the skin. Melanocytes are the cells which are responsible for producing the skin pigment Melanin, Melanin provide skin its colour and protect it from sun’s ultra violet rays. The exact cause of Vitiligo is un-known . Vitiligo is not contagious.

In our “ Homeopathic Clinic , patient # 264, Nose bleeding ” we discussed about nose bleeding. The present article covers the informations about a common skin condition called ” Vitiligo “.

Contents:

What is Vitiligo ?.

Symptoms.

Causes.

Types of Vitiligo.

Facts of Vitiligo.

Complications.

Social life.

Treatment.

 

Patient # 265        —   Sardar Ahmad from Lahore.

Salam. My son  Nabeel, age 35 , medium built body, 5 feet 7 inch tall , good health and  have two children. About 3 years before, some small  pinkish peaches appear  on Nabeel’s hand’s skin. The patches colour  changed to white as they spread slowly.  There is no itching or any other complaint from the patches. I consulted Allopathic doctors but they say that there is no cure for the patches. One of  my friends advised me to consult a  Homeopathic doctor for medical advise and medical treatment if there is one. Thanks in advance.

Doctor’s reply.

What is Vitiligo?

Thanks  for contacting Homeopathic Clinic. The skin condition you mentioned is called ” Vitiligo “. When the patches of skin lose their colour, such condition is called as ” Vitiligo “. People of any age, gender or ethnic group can be victim of it.. Up till now , there is no perfect cure for it. And it is usually lifelong sickness. Affected areas can be found any where on the one’s affected  body. The  affected  areas remain discoloured  for the rest of the individual’s  life. The affected areas of the skin become more sensitive to sun light. No one can tell or guess  if the patches will spread. Some times the patches remain stable for a long period of time.  Patches are more visible in people with darker skin.

Symptoms :

• Appearance of flat lighter coloured spots / patches on the skin , is the only visible  symptom of the disease.  Such patches usually appear on the skin areas mostly exposed to the sun .
• At  the beginning, a very simple paler  spot is visible.  As the time past, this spot becomes paler  and then white.
• The patches  are not in an organized shapes. The affected person, some times, feel  itchiness. The condition  usually does not cause any irritation, discomfort, soreness or dryness in the skin.
• The Vitiligo’s effects vary person to person. Some people may  have a few white dots and do not grow larger. Some people may have larger white patches and tend to spread larger.
• In some cases, people  may have swelling or inflammation in the eyes and ears.

Causes:

The exact cause of vitiligo is unknown. Some possible causes are:

Genetics:

• .Roughly 20 % of the diagnosed cases  have a first degree relative with the condition

Oxidative stress

• If any one have an imbalance of oxygen molecules and antioxidants, it could lead to vitiligo.

Autoimmune response:

• It is quite possible the body’s immune system will attack and kill melanocytes.

Environmental factors :

• Sunburn, chemical exposure or emotional distress are the possible causes of the condition..

Covid-19 vaccines:

• Covid-19 vaccines are taken for Covid-19 condition. Doctors strongly recommend to get vaccinated against Covid-19. One will be surprised when he/she will hear that Covid-19 vaccines are a cause   of vitiligo.  Let us discuss this issue with some details.

How Covid-19 vaccines work:

There are three main Covid-19 vaccines in the market:

• Pfizer-BioNTech
• Moderna.
• Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen

Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines:

The both vaccines are messenger RNA vaccines. Such vaccines deliver artificial genetic material to the body. The genetic material carry instructions to build a certain protein. This protein produce an immune response in the body. The body creates antibodies in response. When  a person contracts SARS-Cov-2, ( the virus that causes Covid-19 ) the affected person has already antibodies to fight the infection.

Johnson & Johnson ‘s Janssen:

On the other hand Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine is a vector vaccine. This type vaccine delivers an artificial harmless virus  known as Victor virus, into the human body. This artificial virus instruct cell to create a new type of protein which produce an immune response in the body. This process produce antibodies that will help to fight SARS-C0V-2  in the future.

Covid-19 vaccines and Vitiligo.

Since some individuals have developed Vitiligo after Covid-19 vaccination, scientists believe it could relate to the effects of vaccination on melanocytes cells. These cells provide skin its colour and contain a pigment Melanin. It is quite possible that the new immune cells may attack melanocytes in very rare cases.  This will lead to develop Vitiligo.

Vitiligo cases:

Covid-19 vaccination  have different effects on different age groups.

• A 58 years old man received the Pfizer-BioNtech  vaccine and triggered the Vitiligo.
• A woman , 61 years old received Moderna vaccine and develop the condition.
• Another 33 years old woman also develop Vitiligo after the very first dose of Pfizer-Bio-NTech  vaccine. This  woman has a family history of this disease.
• A 13 years old girl developed  Vitiligo after vaccination of Bio-NTech  vaccine . The girl had a family history of vitiligo.

Developing Vitiligo after Covid-19 vaccination are very very rare. Such victims  usually  had a family history of Vitiligo.

A BIG question:

• Researchers found that Vitiligo cases worsen after Covid-19 vaccination. Such cases are very rare, but chances are there. It is believed that people with a history of the disease  have a higher risk  of adverse reactions after receiving Covid-19 vaccines. Researchers are studying the following two cases:

The first case:

• A 22 years old man experienced worsening Vitiligo after receiving his very first dose of Pfizer-BioNTecn Covid-19 vaccine. The  patches began to worsen 14 days after vaccination. The researchers think that this worsening effect is due to the antibodies produced by the Covid-19 vaccination. The antibodies’ effects  may have mixed with the effects of melanocyte

The 2nd case:

• A 64 years women developed Lichen planus after receiving  second dose of Pfizer’s Covid -19 vaccine. Lichen planus causes rashes on skin surface. The woman had Vitiligo for 30 years before appearing Lichen planus. This effect appeared on the affected areas only. She experienced such effects after receiving the first and second dose of Covid-19 vaccine. Researchers believe that the vaccine is the cause  of such reaction.

It is found  that majority of people who receive a Covid-19 vaccine will not experience such reaction. Further studies are needed  in this field.

Types of Vitiligo:

There re two types of Vitiligo.

1 – Non- segmental :

• If the patches are similar and balanced relation, it is known as non-segmental . The patches development is slow. This type  is more common. The patches appear equally on both sides of the body. The patches appear on  the skin mostly exposed to the sun. This type of Vitiligo appear on  back of the hands, arm, knees, eyes, elbows, mouth, feet, nose, and genitals and rectal area.
• Non – segmental  breaks down further into sub-categories as under :

Generalized :

• There is no specific area or size of patches.

Acrofacial :

• Patches mostly appear on the face, on the scalp, around the genitals and on the fingers of toes.

Mucosal :

• Patches appear around the mucous membranes and lips.

Universal:

• This type covers most of the body and is very rare.

Focal:

• A few scattered patches on a discrete area. Young children are most often victim of this type.

Segmental Vitiligo:

• Segmental type  spreads rapidly and is considered  never ending , stable and less irregular  than non – segmental type . An article  published in 2020 show that this type of Vitiligo is much less common and affects about 5-16 % of people with Vitiligo. It most often appears around 4 to 10 years of age and affects one body area only.
• Segmental Vitiligo affects the areas of skin attached to nerves arising in the dorsal roots of the spine.

Facts of Vitiligo:

• A person having family vitiligo history has a greater chance of getting the disease.. Beside that certain autoimmune diseases have a link  to increase the risk of getting Vitiligo. It is estimated that 15 to 25 % affected people  are living with another autoimmune condition such as Diabetes, Thyroid disease, Addison’s disease, Pernicious anemia, psoriasis and Rheumatoid arthritis.

Complications:

An affected  person may not have other diseases , but may experience to ;

• Painful sunburn.
• Hearing loss.
• Vision changes  and tear production such as iritis.
• Mental stress.
• Increased risk of skin cancer.

Social life:

• If the skin patches  of a person  are visible , the person may feel as if he/she is in a strange society. People around the person will feel pity for affected person. Such  embarrassment can   lead to problem with self-esteem.. In some cases anxiety and depression can result.

Treatment :

• As mentioned earlier, there is no cure for Vitiligo and it is for life time .There is another disease named ” Meniere’s Disease ” which has no cure and is for life time. Read “ Homeopathic Clinic, Patient # 241 ” for details.   In Allopathy , there is no medicine or ointment to apply. Doctors advise the following options  to try. Pl. bear in mind the result is not predictable. And there is no treatment that will bring the skin in its original colour.

Phototherapy with UVB light;

• A common option is exposure the affected parts of skin to Ultraviolet B ( UVB) lamps. It can be done at  home , and required daily use.

Phototherapy with UVA light:

• This type of treatment must be carried out in a hospital under specialized doctors. In this treatment patient needs to take a drug that increases the skin sensitivity  to ultra violet rays. The  affected  skin areas are exposed to high doses of UVA light in a series of treatment. . The progress will show after 6 to 12 months of therapy. ( A lengthy and tired some process ).

Skin camouflage.

• Some people don not care about their vitiligo. They use to live with it. Some may not be comfortable with the condition. They like to camouflage it. In many cases of mild vitiligo, the white patches can be camouflaged with coloured cosmetic creams and makeup.
• Beside above , there are some other tricks ( i do not call them treatment) which  can help to hide/reduce the white patches. These include Depigmentation, Topical corticosteroids, Dovonex, Drugs affecting the immune system, Psoralen, Skin grafting, and Tattooing. One can try above tricks but one thing to be sure that there is no cure for Vitiligo

source: MedicalNewsToday

Homeopathic treatment:

• In Homeopathy , there are some medicine which can help Vitiligo to stop  grow further. If used for long time, it might minimize the white skin patches. These medicines are :

Hydrocotyle Asia 1X +  Echinacea Angustifolia 2X + Natrum Muraticum 3 X.

Mix all three medicine and drink in 1/2 glass of clean water three times a day. Avoid drinking tea, coffee and smoking 1/2 before and after taking the medicine.