Leukoderma: causes, symptoms, treatment, prevention, prognosis

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Sometimes there is a violation of pigmentation of individual skin areas. They sometimes lose color and, as a result, there are white spots of different sizes. This phenomenon is called leukoderma, you should consult a doctor to understand what factor caused it.

Features of

disease Leukoderma occurs as a consequence of a change in the amount of substance( melanin) in the skin that is responsible for the pigmentation. Appear white spots of different shapes and sizes. Their color can also be different. It depends on how much the presence of melanin is different from normal, the cause that caused such changes in the skin. Sometimes the spots have a border.

  • The disease is the same in both female and male individuals.
  • It is also not noticed that at some age it was more common.
  • Children also suffer from leukoderma. Sometimes signs of the disease are found even in newborns.

About what it is, residual, posthypoxic periventricular leukopathy, false, professional, drug leukoderma, etc.at children and adults, we will tell below.

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Syphilitic leukoderm( photo)

Classification of leukoderma

Species

Specialists subdivide the disease into these types:

  • The professional and drug leukoderma happens from the effect on the body of toxic substances.
  • Infectious leukoderm - cause infectious diseases, it can be:
    • varieties of lichen:
      • scaly,
      • white,
      • flat,
      • red,
      • multicolored;
    • leprosy leukoderma,
    • syphilitic leukoderma.
  • Immune leukoderma is provoked by autoimmune diseases:
    • scleroderma,
    • vitiligo,
    • with lupus erythematosus,
    • halonus.
  • Congenital leukoderma includes varieties:
    • Bloch-Sulzberger melanoblastosis,
    • tuberous sclerosis,
    • albinism( 10 forms).

Acquisition time and forms

Diseases are classified by acquisition time:

  • congenital,
  • purchased.

Forms of the disease:

  • primary - to such include vitiligo and light spots from the effect of toxic substances;
  • secondary - the bulk of leukoderma diseases are a consequence of other diseases.

Causes of

A disorder in the form of a reduction in the pigment on the skin area, up to complete discoloration, occurs for a number of reasons:

  • as a result of diseases:
    • infectious,
    • related to the nervous system,
    • for autoimmune disorders,
    • caused by a violation of hormonal processes,
    • of congenital anomalies;
  • as a reaction of the body to chemicals, including drugs, if they cause intoxication in a person;
  • there are cases when the reason remains unclear.

Symptoms that have leukoderma or hyperpigmentation are described below.

Symptoms of

Signs of leukoderma are spots on the skin of a light color. Around the spots there is a zone in the form of a rim of an even lighter tone. The bezel can have a darker color than the spot and even be reddish.

Spots occur in different shades( yellowish, pinkish, white) - this is due to a disease-cause, which triggered depigmentation. The spots are protruding above the surface or flat, level with the skin.

Also a few may vary in size and shape. Different diseases cause discolored spots in their characteristic places. Syphilitic leukoderma, for example, causes light spots in the area:

  • of the breast,
  • of the neck,
  • sometimes on the abdomen of the
  • and back.

In other cases, bright spots may be located( in addition to the places already mentioned):

  • on the upper limbs,
  • in the inguinal folds,
  • on the lower extremities,
  • in the armpits,
  • on the face,
  • all over the body.

How to identify foci of leukopathy and to treat leukoderma, we will tell below.

Diagnosis of leukopathy

Determination of the diagnosis when discolored spots appear occurs through finding the cause that caused this phenomenon. The dermatologist analyzes all the symptoms that are observed in the patient, and determines whether consultations of other specialists are needed.

  • The doctor interrogates the patient, with what chemicals he had contact, if medications were taken.
  • If suspected that the patient has a primary disease that caused leukoderma-lichen, the spots are checked using a Wood lamp( luminescent diagnostics).Patients with a directional light absorb it, and healthy - reflect.
  • In determining the diagnosis, the diseases affected by the patient's relatives are included.
  • The patient is referred for blood biochemical analysis.

Treatment of

The cause that has affected the appearance of spots will be crucial for the adoption of treatment methods. With some diseases depigmented spots should not be treated, they themselves eventually pass. Such cases include spots that appeared:

  • after burns,
  • as a result of skin inflammations,
  • after lishy, ​​and
    • scleroderma,
    • leprosy.

In case of light spots from contact with chemicals, contact with them should be avoided.

Leukopathy( photo)

Therapeutic way

If the nature of the disease, which caused depigmentation, is infectious, then the treatment will be directed at solving this problem. Trying to select therapy and in some cases of immune disorders.

Congenital forms of the disease are also tried to correct by therapeutic methods, but this does not bring much success. One of the ways to help with the treatment of light spots is PUVA-therapy. It uses ultraviolet irradiation together with the use of a photoactive substance.

Medicated

Each patient is assigned a complex of treatment individually. The drugs are applied externally and inward. Medicines of this type are used:

  • analogues of phenylalanine,
  • tranquilizers,
  • glucocorticosteroids,
  • amino acids of tyrosine,
  • furocoumarin preparations,
  • preparations of copper, zinc;
  • vitamins,
  • enzymes for digestion.

Operation

In some cases, specialists may decide to perform a surgical operation. Possible intervention options:

  • skin transplantation using donor transplants,
  • melanocyte transplantation( autologous),
  • skin transplantation, taken from the patient himself.

Prevention of the disease

To prevent a deficit in the skin tissue of melanin, it is recommended to eat foods rich in tyrosine. This is the amino acid necessary for the synthesis of melanin. Experts advise to include in the menu dishes, which include products:

  • sea fish and other seafood,
  • seeds:
    • sunflower
    • and pumpkin,
    • sesame seeds and flax;
  • cereals:
    • buckwheat,
    • oats,
    • millet;
  • nuts:
    • almonds,
    • hazelnuts,
    • pistachios,
    • peanuts;
  • eggs,
  • liver,
  • meat,
  • legumes,
  • vegetable oils,
  • dairy products,
  • vegetables:
    • carrots,
    • cauliflower,
    • tomatoes,
    • pumpkin,
    • spinach,
    • beet;
  • bananas,
  • dried fruits:
    • raisins,
    • dates.

Complications of

Consequences may give rise to underlying diseases that have led to a disruption of pigmentation in the skin. Light spots, in most cases, are not the root cause and depend on the disease and the possibility of completely curing it.

The presence of colorless spots makes a cosmetic defect and frustrates the nervous system of the patient. A person can become depressed, become anxious. To avoid this, you should consult a psychiatrist, a neurologist.

Forecast

What will be the result after the appearance of leukoderma and its treatment, ultimately, depends entirely on the reasons that triggered the problem. Some of them, to some extent, are amenable to treatment( small percentage), there are varieties that do not pass, but only progress.

  • There are also some leukoderms, which, after eliminating the cause that produced them, pass by themselves. This happens with bright spots after the lice, burns, inflammations.
  • If bright spots appear from the toxic effects of chemicals, then after eliminating the harmful factor, they usually also pass.
  • Pigmentary disorders that are congenital and caused by autoimmune diseases are poorly amenable to changes.
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