Does the Diagnosis of Vitiligo Have a Psychological Impact on Adult Essay

Does the Diagnosis of Vitiligo Have a Psychological Impact on Adult Suffers in UK - Essay Example As the disease becomes chronic, it was observed that these patches may or may not grow in number and size, and may get eventually widely distributed all over the body surface. In some individuals, it was observed that the growth of white lesions is static, and rarely even uneven repigmentation can be observed in vitiligo individuals (Patient UK EMIS and PiP, 2008). The specialized skin cells named melanocytes are responsible for the production of skin pigments called melanin, which is activated on sunlight exposure to form more melanin. They play an important role in skin protection from the suns rays, besides delivering color to the outer layer of the body. The people suffering from vitiligo have less or devoid of melanin content in affected areas. Therefore, such people due to lack of natural protection, are easily prone to skin burn by sun rays (Patient UK EMIS and PiP, 2008). It is conspicuous in darker-skinned persons than faired skin people, where the contrast with the surrounding area is prominent. It is estimated that 0.1-2% of the worldwide population is vitiligo patients. The UK has reported that almost 1% population suffers from vitiligo. People of all racial or ethnic backgrounds and both the genders are equally vulnerable to vitiligo. Though particular age limit is not there for catching this disease, the most susceptible age group is young age up to 20 years; where almost 50% of vitiligo cases are spotted (NHS choices, 2008). Vitiligo is not categorized as an infectious disorder since this is not transmitted from one person to other. In the UK, approximately 500000 suffer from this typical skin problem accompanied by cosmetic and psychological issues. Every physician has around 10 vitiligo clients.