Vitiligo patients should exercise and get involved in outdoor sports activities

CHANDIGARH: Vitiligo is probably one of the longest known illnesses of humans and simultaneously one of the most misunderstood. Experts opine that vitiligo patients should exercise and get involved in both indoor and outdoor sports activities.The exercise of moderate level is helpful and beneficial.
About 0.5 to 1% of the world population that is as many as 65 million people have Vitiligo.Half the People who have Vitiligo develop it before age 20, Most develop it before their 40th birthday.
Epidemiological data from India have shown that the mean ages at onset among males and females are, respectively, about 25 years and 20 years. About 20% of vitiligo patients have at least one first-degree relative with vitiligo.
Vitiligo is an acquired skin disorder characterized clinically by totally white spots and by the total absence of pigment producing cells in the skin, the melanocytes.
"The skin disease is not an infectious disease hence it is not a communicable disorder which a lot of people are unaware of thus subjecting a vitiligo patient to a lot of social discrimination," said Dr Vikas Sharma, a city based dermatologist. Another myth is that it is leprosy which in fact is an entirely different skin disesase caused by mycobacterium Leprae.
All the talk about dietary influence like fish with milk, etc is all myth and various studies have found no link in the causation of disease with these dietary agents. "Patient must be put on a healthy diet to enhance immunity. Sports, sound sleep and healthy diet is works like a miracle for all vitiligo patients," said Dr Aneesh Sharma, a Mohali based specialist.