Vitiligo, or leprosy, is an acquired disease in which the only symptom is light-colored spots on the skin. The prevalence of the disease is 1% among the total population all over the world, without relationship to origin or sex. The disease begins in more than 50% of people before the age of 20.
The disease was known since 1000 BC, from the Indian and Buddhist civilizations, where there was a reservation in all civilizations from the carriers of the disease, and often they were banished outside the population group. The cause of the injuries is damage to the melanocytes that produce melanin - the substance of the color in the skin. There is a lack of melanin due to the lack of melanocytes.
The accepted theory to explain Vitiligo is that the cause of the disease is related to an autoimmune process, and that the disease is associated with many other diseases with an autoimmune background.
Vitiligo is most noticeable in people with darker skin, due to the heterochromia. Vitiligo generally begins in an exposed area of ​​the body, after a spring exposure or injury. Injuries vary in size, varying from a few millimeters to large areas, and borders are sharp with hyper-colored limbs.
Vitiligo does not accompany any other disorder, but it is more common to develop it as a result of an emotional disorder. There is no evidence that vitiligo is due to a psychological factor, nor is there any basis for assuming that vitiligo is associated with an underlying malignant process.