Vitiligo is a skin condition in which there is a loss of brown pigment from certain areas of skin, leading to irregular white patches. It affects about one per 100 people in the U.S. Vitiligo occurs when immune cells destroy the cells that produce brown pigment, and is thought to be an autoimmune problem.
Vitiligo is tough to treat. But cosmetics can help, and there are a number of treatments that can minimize, camouflage, or even eliminate the white patches. These include steroid creams and a treatment known as photochemotherapy, in which drugs and ultraviolet light are used in combination. For people with vitiligo on more than 50 percent of their bodies, there's depigmentation, in which patients apply a drug that fades the skin to match the depigmented areas.