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What is vitiligo and pigmentation

What is pigmentation loss in the fingers
(25 Nov 2008)

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From your question I understand that you are seeking information about the loss of pigmentation with specific focus on the fingers.

The human skin has a certain color because of the presence of a pigment in the body. Melanocytes are the cells which exist in our body and which ensure that the pigment is produced. This pigment is called melanin and it is this melanin which gives our skin the distinctive color which marks us out from the people of another nation. In our body melanin is produced in the form of small granules. These granules cannot be dissolved in water. In the areas of the body where no melanin granules are present, the skin is white, or rather, devoid of the appropriate pigmentation. The number of pigment granules you have decides the exact shade of your skin. When melanocytes are destroyed, what happens is that no pigment is produced in the body. In such people there are hardly any melanin granules present in the body. As a result the skin does not have any color. This disorder is known as Vitiligo.

Although doctors are not very sure about the exact reasons why people develop Vitiligo, it is now believed that people who suffer from this disease have actually inherited a group of genes, consisting of three genes. And that it is these genes which makes these people fall prey to Vitiligo. Some other doctors and researcher believe that melanocytes, which are responsible for producing the pigments in the body, destroy themselves, thus destroying any chances of pigments in the body. What ever the actual reasons, people the world over suffer from Vitiligo.

When a person is suffering from Vitiligo, he develops patches of white skin on his body. In time more patches appear on the skin and then all the patches join to become one large patch. Usually the skin inside the mouth is affected too. When Vitiligo spreads to the scalp, the hair on the person's head also turns white. In time, the white patches spread all over the body and soon there is not a single patch of normal, colored skin on the body. When you mentioned loss of pigmentation on the fingers, I understood that you were referring to the lack of pigmentation that must have occurred on the fingers of someone's hand.

If you have noticed some small patch of discolored skin on your fingers, it is advisable to seek the opinion of your doctor. You could be suffering from some other, fairly harmless infection.

answered by G B on 25 Nov 2008, 2:03:31

 

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