Autoimmune vitiligo theory

[June91]

My daughter was born with small patches of white skin on her abdomen and down one leg. Nothing major, and will probably only cause problems once she gets to her teens, as we tend to exaggerate the tiniest physical flaws at that time. ;)

Her vitiligo has not developed further. Dermatologists agree that it is extremely rare to have congenital vitiligo; congenital in the case of vitiligo really means developing soon after birth, one which does not develop but simply appears in multiple locations is apparently unheard of.

So my assumption is that while I was pregnant it was my immune system (more specifically, cytokines) that attacked and killed off some of her pigment cells. Once she was born, her healthy immune system took over and that was it. The only flaw in my theory is perhaps the fact that I have no white patches on my body.

Anyone with vitiligo here? Comments?

[thomasb]

Ah interesting. I've had vitiligo since age 7 or 8. It developed gradually after that, as it usually does.

From what i know, it tends to skip a generation every now and then. My grandfather has it, not my dad, but all of my brothers and so on. Might explain why your daughter has it while you don't. Might have been dormant in your genes perhaps i don't know.

As for it causing problems in her teens, my personal experience is that at first, and first being up to my last years in highschool it caused me some problems. Only though cos i was ashamed that i was all spotty, pure cosmetic worries. However, as i passed my teenage years it subsided and now it does not bother me at all. I have gotten UV treatments for it before, and that made it go away at the cost of going to the hospital and sunbathing 5 min every week. It was not worth it. Living in sweden with a long wintr does help, since i get so pale anyway then that it is not noticable.

As long as i try to wear sunscreen on the spots when i am out in the sun it does not bother me.

When i was diagnosed my doctor looked at me, said I was thin, pale and had vitiligo, meaning that that pointed towards me being type 1. Yes indeed.

[Jak]

I don't know about your theory. It seems a little doubtful, but who knows?

I have vitiligo as well as several other auto-immune conditions (including diabetes). There are many auto-immune disorders in my family, so I have more than a few examples to pick from.

One of my brothers and one of my sisters had vitiligo as well as one of my nephews. My nephew's case has persisted, but it disappeared in both my sister and brother decades ago and has never returned. Perhaps your daughter will be one of the lucky ones and hers will disappear on it's own. I think it will depend on whether or not her immune systems "calms down" as it appears to have done in my sister and brother.

An interesting aside is that one of my five sisters also has auto-immune diabetes and another (the one who had temporary vitiligo) also had an episode in childhood when she showed glucose in her urine. In the 40 years since, she has never developed diabetes of any type. I wonder if her immune system also calmed down after an initial attack on her beta cells just as it appears to have calmed down after her initial bout with vitiligo.

Jak

[VinceF]

I have Vitiligo on my head hands and partially of my feet. I did not develop it until my early 20's. By then I had diabetes at least 15 years so vitiligo was the least of my worries. I had/have some close friends at the time to talk to about V they helped put it in perspective. I have had some ignorant comments made...but you get that with diabetes too.

Later on I did go for some treatments for it but found them to time consuming for what little benefit it provided. I suppose being a teenage girl with V would be difficult. My wife is a makeup artist and has done makeup for some brides who would like to cover up. I'm sure their husbands could see past their V.

As for the cause your theory is as good as any I've heard

[NoraWI]

I developed vitiligo in my early 20s; diabetes T1 (LADA) at 62. In between I became aware of several other autoimmune conditions. Most are minor and inconsequential except for the diabetes, Hashimoto's thyroiditis and retinitis pigmentosa. All are very slow progressing. My vitiligo (on hands, in the fold of the elbows, armpits and at the front of the neck) shows up only in the summer when my ultra pale skin tries to "tan." At this point, vitiligo is the least of my worries. ;o)