Vitiligo is a disease occurring in 1%-2% of the population. Its symptom appears as white patches on face, hands and feet and some times, it can be a generalised disease, said K. Venkata Chalam, honorary national joint secretary of Indian Association of Dermatologists, Venereologists and Leprologists (IADVL), on the World Vitiligo Day, on Thursday.
The day is an initiative to build global awareness about vitiligo, in memory of American singer Michael Jackson, who suffered from vitiligo from the early 1980s until his death in 2009.
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The pigment producing melanocytes are destroyed as a result of auto-immune process. Vitiligo creates psychological impact due to the stigma associated with it. Although it does not cause any physical harm, it comes in the way of life, education and job. All this is the result of misconceptions about the disease that it is contagious and that it cannot be treated. Apart from skin, there can be changes in eyes and ears though rarely, he said.