Vitiligo Awareness #shorts

Is Vitiligo Awareness Day. I am a board certified dermatologist. Beautiful human being. Winnie Harlow is a vitiligo patient. She is one of the 1% of the world population who is affected by this medical condition. But vitiligo does not discriminate against race. In fact, I am originally Lebanese and so is Karen Wazen, who has a patch of vitiligo on the front part of her neck. Even though her case is much less severe than Winnie's, Vitiligo can play a dramatic impact on one person's psychological well being, and it should not be underestimated. What exactly happens when you have vitiligo? It's an autoimmune condition, meaning your body is fighting itself. In fact, it's fighting off the pigment producing cells, also known as melanocytes. And that is when you get a tiny, lighter patch of skin that eventually becomes stark white because you've killed off all of the melanocytes in that particular area of your skin.