Vitiligo is a condition that causes the skin to begin to lose its pigmentation—or color—for no apparent reason, resulting in white patches that are especially noticeable in people whose skin tone is naturally dark. If you've heard of this chronic skin condition, there's a very good chance it was in association with Michael Jackson. The King of Pop is reported to have had vitiligo—and other celebrities have it as well, including model Winnie Harlow, who has had an empowering presence of showing the condition's unique beauty and style. All in all, though, it's a fairly rare disorder: Approximately .5% to 2% of the world's population has vitiligo, according to a study in Dermatology Reports . What's behind this uncommon disease and is there a treatment for it? Here's what the experts have to say. What Is Vitiligo? What is vitiligo exactly? "Vitiligo is mainly an autoimmune disease of the skin that targets pigment-producing cells called melanocytes," s...
A parasite capable of causing a disfiguring skin disease may be endemic in Texas and present in other southern states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. From 2005 to 2019, the CDC identified 1,222 cases in the U.S. that were positive for Leishmania, a parasite transmitted through the bites of infected female sandflies. The parasite can cause a disease called leishmaniasis, which usually results in skin sores that develop within a few weeks or months after a bite. Leishmaniasis cases in the U.S. are typically found in people who traveled outside the country to tropical or subtropical climates — particularly those in the Middle East, central Asia, northern Africa and Latin America. But the CDC said 86 of the Leishmania samples were from people with no recent history of travel outside the U.S. The researchers also detected a unique strain of Leishmania that appeared to be genetically distinct from travel-related cases, suggesting it w...
Could the next public health crisis be caused by a fungus? The threat of such an emergency is posed at the outset of the hit TV series, The Last Of Us, which begins in the 1960s with a bleak speech by an epidemiologist on the danger of fungi. "If the world were to get slightly warmer, then there is reason to evolve," warns a prescient John Hannah, referencing their potential to infect and overpower a person's mind. "Candida, ergot, cordyceps, aspergillus: any one of them could be capable of burrowing into our brains and taking control of not millions of us, but billions." The show takes this idea and runs with it, jumping forward 40 years to when a mass cordyceps outbreak leads to a devastating pandemic which transforms people into blood-thirsty abominations. An extreme outcome with plenty of artistic licence taken - but is it entirely without scientific basis? Image: A mass cordyceps outbreak transforms...
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