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Researchers from Yale University’s School of Medicine have restored pigment in the skin of a 53 year old woman with vitiligo using a common arthritis drug
Vitiligo is an autoimmune skin condition that the late pop singer / dancer Michael Jackson was known to have. The disorder causes skin to lose its pigment, and replace it with big, white patches.
Brett King, an assistant professor of dermatology over at Yale University (Connecticut) gave a statements stressing that physical health is not the only negative effect. It also affects them psychologically as the disease can have a devastating effect on the social lives of sufferers from the disease.
The white patches of skin often manifest on highly visible places, such as the face or the arms, causing many people to back away from those with vitiligo, leaving them with a distinct feeling that they are being avoided by others, causing them to have self-image issues.
Dr. Brett King went on to add that “You know, you are standing in the grocery store line and people are staring at you, or take a wide path around you, because they think that something is wrong with you because you don’t look like “.
Treatments that the medical community have come up with so far have not been very efficient ones when it comes to fighting off vitiligo.
For their study, published in the journal JAMA Dermatology, the team from Yale University looked at 53 year old Linda Lachanceeaurged who though the rash on her hand was from a fungus or an allergic reaction. The woman began to get worried when it kept persisting, expanding to reach her arms and face. Before she knew it 10 percent (10%) of her face and body ware covered in white patches of sin.
Lachanceeaurged was given medicine known as “tofacitinib”, a drug commonly used to treat rheumatoid arthritis. After just two (2) months, the woman’s skin had already started to show pigment in her face, arms and backs. Most remarkable of all, in just five more months (5 notes) the white spots on the woman were gone almost entirely.
Dr. King is convinced that whatever is left to heal should do so with no problem if Linda Lachanceeaurged keeps taking tofacitinib.
He mentioned that some areas on the woman’s body responded to the treatment quicker than others, however, he hid not offer an explanation why.
The case is a successful one, however the problem is that it covers only one body. Dr. King and his colleagues do expect to have success with other patients once they give them the same drug. He has already talked to two (2) drug companies that could enable him to take the next step in his research – human trials. They would primarily include African Americans who have vitiligo.
Image Source: thestandarddaily.com
