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Vitiligo - The Facts

"I'm a black American. I'm proud to be a black American. I'm proud of my race. I'm proud of who I am... But when people make up stories that I don't wanna be who I am it hurts me. It's a problem for me okay? I can't control it."

(MJ talks to Oprah, 1993)

Why should this be a lie? Because he want's to be white? Because you gain more success and a better reputation being white?

In this article you will find out the true reasons for Michael's 'transformation', you will get detailed information on Vitiligo and links to informative homepages and message boards.

Michael filming the videoclip for 'They don't care about us'.
Even with using camouflage the skin disorder is clearly visible.

"Michael Jackson does not want to be black."

How many times did we hear that sentence already?...but let us leave behind all the rumours now and let us deal with the person Michael Jackson only. In the Oprah interview Michael mentions that he already realized blotches on his skin "some time around Off The Wall/Thriller" (i.e. at the age of 21-24). As this happened in his father Joseph's family before you could assume that Michael inherited this disease from his father's family.

But what are these changes? What kind of disease is it we are talking about?

Michael suffers from a disease called Vitiligo.
In Germany, approximately one million people are affected by this chronic pigmentation disorder. Basically Vitiligo means that the melanocytes (i.e. the cells, where the pigment that determines color of skin, hair and eyes, is produced) do not work properly anymore and get destroyed in the end. The consequences are white blotches that will spread all over your body which will obviously be easily recognized when born as an African-American.

Causes of the disease:

Talking about Vitiligo and its causes the doctors are faced with a riddle as there are no medically proven reasons for Vitiligo. But it is certain that mostly Vitiligo is passed on to the descendants. You can not forecast the outbreak of the disease but immense stress like divorce, loss of a friend etc. can speed up the process. Having to face the public all the time it is no wonder Michael's Vitiligo broke out that early in his life.

Heredity

As mentioned, Vitiligo is mostly passed on to the relatives. But not all descendants inherit the disease as a special genetic combination is necessary for Vitiligo to break out. Naturally, not all relatives have the same genes, which is why some family members have the skin disorder and some have not.
Thyroid gland disease

Vitiligo also often occurs in combination with a special thyroid gland disease. This disease destroys the enzymes and tissue produced naturally in the body. But a connection between the two diseases could not have been proven by 100% yet.
Degenerative Polyneuritis

People with degenerative polyneuritis more likely are afflicted with Vitiligo than healthy people.
Stress

Having a lot of stress the body distributes so-called toxins (= toxicities) that destroy the melanocytes which means that after enormous psychic stress Vitiligo worsens or breaks out.
Previously damaged skin

Another reason for the onset of Vitiligo could be former damages of the skin like sunburns or toxicities. The tissue and even the melanocytes could have been damaged which leads to Vitiligo.
After Pregnancy

Vitiligo was also diagnosed after pregnancy when the woman's body is weakened and important nutrients are missing.

Symptoms of the disease

First of all you have to distinguish between generalized Vitiligo and localized Vitiligo.
Generalized Vitiligo means, that the whole body is affected by Vitiligo. When Vitiligo is localized, it only occurs on some body parts. Generalized Vitiligo often occurs on extremely used body parts like elbows, eyelids, ankles and fingers. Generalized Vitiligo spreads 10-20 years until it stagnates or forms back to normal skin in rare cases.

Source

Localized Vitiligo spreads within several months and occurs only on special body parts. After these months the spread stagnates.

Source

Vitiligo and Society

Unfortunately many people with Vitiligo are victims of teasing and prejudgement. The same goes for Michael. Countless rumours are the proof for people's ignorance. People with skin disorders unfortunately rank among impure, contagious people and do not match the ideal of beauty. This psychological pressure can lead to a life full of retirement, loneliness and fear of disapproval.

Michael Jackson's Vitiligo

"Michael Jackson bleached his skin"

Is this the truth?
Whether Michael bleached his skin or not we do not know and we won't discuss any speculations as we respect his privacy. We can have a look at the different methods of treatment, though, so that everybody can make up his/ her own mind.

Prophylaxis

First of all it is very important for patients to take care of themselves in everyday life as there are many factors that can worsen Vitiligo such as ultraviolet rays. As soon as Vitiligo-patients expose themselves to sunlight they are in special danger. In comparison to "normal" skin, the blotches on their skin have absolutely no protection against the sun. It is therefore very important to cream the skin with plenty of sun lotion/ sun blocker (at least SPF: 15) before they leave the house.

Methods of Treatment

Before you speak of methods of treatment a few things need to be clarified beforehand. Vitiligo is not curable. Nevertheless there are some more or less effective therapies which unfortunately do not always guarantee the intended success. The fact that the doctors do not know the causes for Vitiligo in full detail involves that there are no methods of treatment with 100% success. In addition to that everything depends on the disease's progress, i.e. which body parts are affected and the stage of the disease. But also the patient's age, environment and health plays a big role. The following methods are therefore nothing else than a listing of possible therapies which have to be used individually.

In general there are two possible methods of dealing with Vitiligo. Either you choose to try to adjust the white blotches by re-establishing the old pigmentation (re-pigmentation) or you destroy all remaining melanocytes in order to get homogeneous (white) skin (de-pigmentation).

Methods of Treatment/ re-pigmentation

Light Therapy

This therapy is used hundreds of years already. Especially in southern countries people realized that long solar radiation led to a vanishing or at least improvement of Vitiligo. That happened because the melanocytes in the root of the hairs still exist.
The doctors benefit from this fact and irradiate the patients regularly (three times a week for three months) with UVB-light. The remaining melanocytes are stimulated and begin to work again. When UVB-light is not successful enough you can also use UVA-light in combination with a special analeptic.
70% of all patients reported a good success.
Excimer-Laser-Treatment

This is a tightened up version of the light-therapy. Here, the affected blotches are irradiated with a special UVB-Laser. The advantage is that the light is much more intensive and no healthy skin is harmed due to the selective irradiation.
Surgical Treatment

This treatment is only performed when the disease has come to a halt and is especially suitable for patients with already white skin.
Firstly, a small part of the patient's healthy skin is taken to re-grow melanocytes in a huge number in a laboratory. When enough melanocytes are produced, the doctor removes the epidermis of the spots in question and applies the skin with the melanocytes in a special adhesive paste. After 7-10 days the bandages can be removed and all wounds should have healed up. After another three weeks the melanocytes work properly and the patient's skin will have its former pigmentation again.

The advantage of this method is that there won't be any remaining scars but many patients will not be able to finance this therapy as it is very expensive.
Cortisone/ Other Treatments

As cortisone has many side effects it is used only very seldom. It more likely can be seen as a support for other treatments not as an independent therapy.

There are many more methods of treatment that are not medically proven. The internet offers huge space to promote tons of would-be therapies to make a lot of money. Therefore it is advisable to stick to the therapies mentioned above and to consult a doctor.

Methods of Treatment/ de-pigmentation

De-pigmentation means that all remaining melanocytes will be removed completely. The skin loses its typical pigmentation and remains white. Patients whose skin is harmed immensely therefore often stick to this method as re-pigmentation would be a very long-lasting process.

Methods of Treatment/ Camouflage

Camouflage is a kind of special make-up that conceals the spots perfectly. Camouflage is used in the film, music and sports industry as the skin needs to sustain special treatment. Applied to the skin correctly, Camouflage can even be used while swimming (in combination with a special fixing spray). The spots are not recognizable any more which leads to psychic stability.

There is much more to say about this topic but we think this overview suffices to be able to put oneself in Michael's place.

If you want to know more about Vitiligo you can have a look at the following pages:

Vitiligo:

Camouflage:

Message boards:

We hope we could give you an understanding of Vitiligo and Michael's feelings and would like to encourage you to spread this information just as vehemently as the media do with false rumours so that sentences like "Michael does not want to be black any more" do not get a chance.