How to effectively prevent vitiligo?

Vitiligo is a relatively common disease. The main symptom is the appearance of obvious and irregular white spots on the skin. To prevent vitiligo, you can only prevent the disease or its onset by being optimistic and controlling your emotions. The cause of vitiligo is still unclear, but there are several factors that research suggests are related, such as genetic factors, autoimmune factors, psychoneurological factors, etc. Although there is no very effective way to treat vitiligo, we can learn more about the cause of the disease and take some preventive measures to reduce the incidence of the disease. Patients with vitiligo also need to be proactive when receiving treatment.

Causes

The cause of this disease is still unclear. Recent studies have shown that this is related to the following factors:

1. Genetic theory

Vitiligo can occur in twins and families, indicating that heredity plays an important role in the onset of vitiligo. Studies have shown that vitiligo has incomplete penetrance and there are multiple pathogenic sites on the gene.

2. Autoimmunity theory

Vitiligo can be combined with autoimmune diseases such as thyroid disease, diabetes, chronic adrenal insufficiency, pernicious anemia, rheumatoid arthritis, malignant melanoma, etc. Specific antibodies to various organs can also be detected in the serum, such as anti-thyroid antibodies, anti-gastric parietal cell antibodies, anti-adrenal gland antibodies, anti-parathyroid antibodies, anti-smooth muscle antibodies, anti-melanocyte antibodies, etc.

3. Psychological and neurochemical theory

Mental factors are closely related to the onset of vitiligo. Most patients suffer from mental trauma, excessive tension, depression or frustration during the onset or development of skin lesions. The degeneration of nerve endings in the white spots also supports the neurochemical theory.

4. Melanocyte self-destruction theory

Vitiligo patients can produce antibodies and T lymphocytes in their bodies, indicating that the immune response may lead to the destruction of melanocytes. Toxic melanin precursors synthesized by the cells themselves and certain chemicals that cause skin depigmentation may also have a selective destructive effect on melanocytes.

5. Trace element deficiency theory

The levels of copper or ceruloplasmin in the blood and skin of vitiligo patients are reduced, resulting in reduced tyrosinase activity, thus affecting the metabolism of melanin.

6. Other factors

Trauma, sun exposure and some photosensitive drugs can also induce vitiligo.