Vijay Varma reveals he has vitiligo: What is the autoimmune disease?

Bollywood actor Vijay Varma recently opened up about his skin condition vitiligo which had bothered him during the initial days of his career. Vijay has impressed audiences through his performance in many films and shows like Gully Boy, Darling and Lust Stories 2. “Vitiligo is just a skin condition that doesn’t drastically change your life. The condition did affect me when I was out of work. But after seeing success, it stopped bothering me,” Vijay said. The actor said that he doesn’t cover the vitiligo patches on his body when he steps out. Apparently, he does it only in the movies as he doesn’t want the audience to look at anything else, diverting their attention.
What is vitiligo?
Melanin, which is produced by the melanocyte cells in the skin, is what gives pigmentation to the skin. Vitiligo is an autoimmune disease that destroys these skin cells, causing the skin to lose its natural pigmentation in patches where the melanocyte cells are absent. As it is an autoimmune disease, vitiligo patients are prone to other autoimmune diseases like thyroid, parathyroid and diabetes.

Is it contagious?
Vitiligo isn’t contagious. However, in around thirty per cent of cases, vitiligo is seen in the patients’ close relatives too. So, it is assumed that genetic factors may play a pivotal role in this disease.
Symptoms
Even though white patches or discolouration could be spotted in any part of the body, vitiligo is mostly seen on the face as well as on the legs and hands. The white patches are not itchy. The body hair in these parts too turns white or grey. The appearance of new patches like wound marks is a symptom of the disease being active in your body. The types of white patches may differ depending on the affected body parts.

Diagnosis
The symptoms are the main factors that help in diagnosing vitiligo. So, there is no need for specialised tests to diagnose the patient. A skin expert could easily diagnose the condition by looking at the symptoms. In the initial stages, the white patches may appear similar to leprosy wounds or tinea versicolor. In such cases, you might need a biopsy test to confirm. Besides, the doctor may suggest a thyroid function test to determine whether the patient has autoimmune conditions and if blood sugar levels are tested.

Treatment
The discolouration is completely curable and the patient could regain his/her natural skin colour. However, old pigmentation, whitened body hair and patches on nasal membranes and fingertips may not respond well to treatment. There are various kinds of treatment protocols depending on the intensity of the disease and the affected body part.