Vitiligo commonly presents in children, with half of all cases developing before 20 years of age. Although studies have characterized differences between pediatric and adult vitiligo, little is known about vitiligo presenting in early childhood.
The cause of vitiligo in children is unknown, though it is known to be an autoimmune disease. An autoimmune disease occurs when the body produces antibodies that attack its own tissues.
Different studies underline how half of vitiligo patients develop the disease before the age of 20 years old and how about 25% of them develop the disease before the age of 8 [2].
Vitiligo usually manifests in the second or third decade of life and is believed to be an acquired condition, though a positive family history is present in 30 to 40 percent of cases. Congenital vitiligo and presentation at birth is a very rare entity, but cases in infancy have been reported.
Vitiligo often starts as a pale patch of skin that gradually turns completely white. The centre of a patch may be white, with paler skin around it. If there are blood vessels under the skin, the patch may be slightly pink, rather than white. The edges of the patch may be smooth or irregular.
Pityriasis versicolor can sometimes be confused with vitiligo, as they both cause the skin to become discoloured in patches. But there are ways to tell the difference: vitiligo often develops symmetrically (on both sides of your body at the same time), while pityriasis versicolor may not.
Pre-vitiligo patches appear as pale yellow patches before they turn into white vitiligo patches. It is beneficial if one notices them and treats this problem at an early stage and not let it convert to vitiligo. Mostly they start affecting the areas like face, knees, elbows, back of the hand, etc.
Vitiligo (vih-tih-LY-go) is a loss of skin pigment, or color, that causes white spots or patches on the skin. While vitiligo might make kids self-conscious, this skin condition is not medically dangerous. It's not a form of skin cancer, it's not an infection like MRSA, and it's not contagious.
What causes vitiligo? Vitiligo is an autoimmune disease. This type of disease develops when your immune system attacks part of your own body. If you have vitiligo, your immune system attacks cells in your body called melanocytes. These are cells that make pigment.
Another common cause of blotchy skin discoloration in children is a skin infection called tinea versicolor. While often referred to as a fungal infection, this skin condition occurs when a child's immune system overreacts to a type of fungus called Malassezia furfur that is typically present on all healthy skin.
The risk of developing vitiligo in the general population is about 1%, or 1 in 100 people. That is really common.
Symptoms can be mild and only affect a small area of your body or severe and affect a large area of your skin. Some people with vitiligo experience itchy skin before depigmentation starts.
Treatment cannot cure vitiligo.
While researchers are looking for a cure, treatment cannot currently cure this disease. Treatment can help restore lost skin color, but the color (repigmentation) may fade over time. To keep their results, many patients have maintenance treatments.
Vitiligo signs include: Patchy loss of skin color, which usually first appears on the hands, face, and areas around body openings and the genitals.
A non-life-threatening skin disease, vitiligo is a condition where the loss of pigment leads to smooth white patches on the skin. It often appears on the hands, arms, face, and feet. Skin patches may start to appear rapidly at the onset of the disease but stop for long periods of time before they resume.
Vitiligo is a common pigmentary disorder caused by the destruction of functional melanocytes. Vitamin D is an essential hormone synthesized in the skin and is responsible for skin pigmentation. Low levels of vitamin D have been observed in vitiligo patients and in patients with other autoimmune diseases.
No medical treatment: Sometimes no medical treatment is recommended, and those with vitiligo may utilize cosmetics to even their skin tone. This is often used in children because it avoids potential side effects from medications.
Indeed this is in line with studies suggesting environmental and psychological stressors are triggers for the onset and progression of vitiligo [24].
A skin biopsy, which means taking a small sample of your skin to be examined under a microscope. Doctors can examine the tissue for the missing melanocytes seen in the depigmented skin of a person with vitiligo.
A vitiligo diagnosis typically involves a review of your symptoms and medical history, a physical examination of the skin, and, potentially, a skin biopsy or blood work.
If the spots are not truly white, but hypopigmented and not depigmented (they don't enhance by Wood's lamp), then they are NOT vitiligo and could be any number of different diseases and conditions.
The first signs of vitiligo in kids are white patches on the skin that are commonly found on the hands, feet, arms, face, and lips. Sometimes, vitiligo in babies also results in whitening of hair. In some children, vitiligo patches don't spread whereas in some children, it spreads rapidly all over the body.
Atopic dermatitis (eczema).
Sometimes a small area of skin becomes irritated, which results in a patch of skin that's lighter in pigment than is the skin around it (pityriasis alba). This is common in children who have eczema.
To the best of our knowledge, vitamin D significantly affects melanocytes and keratinocytes. Studies suggest that vitamin D3 increases tyrosinase activity and melanogenesis in vitro [12], which may lead to repigmentation in vitiligo skin lesions.
Nutritional deficiencies
Deficiencies in calcium, vitamin D and vitamin E can cause white patches on the skin. While harmless, these white spots indicate that you need to eat a healthy, balanced diet.