Last Updated on 11th January 2022 by Caroline Haye
It’s what vitiligo is all about
It’s a fair bet that most people automatically associate the word “inflammation” with swollen joints, insect bites or infections. But inflammation can be completely invisible to the naked eye and it may or may not be accompanied by pain. It can occur in any organ and any cell in the body. And it is part of every type of illness and injury. In fact, you could say that inflammation = disease. (In the real sense of the word, i.e. dis-ease.) And, conversely, an absence of inflammation = health.
As a non-scientist, I tend to think in descriptive terms about such things. A medical professional would be able to explain the inflammation process in a great deal of scientific detail. Whereas I simply visualise it as an interruption or breakdown in an organism’s natural balance. I’d be the first to confess that my description is vague and unscientific in comparison to a technically accurate one. But it refers to exactly the same reality. And, hopefully, it conveys it in a way that is easier for most of us to process.
Inflammation overload
There are many types of inflammation and they are not all necessarily cause for concern. For example, a sprained ankle, a flea bite or a bruise would all involve temporary, localised inflammation. A case of flu (or Coronavirus) can cause severe inflammation throughout the body that might last for several weeks, or even months. In all these instances, though, the inflammation is relatively short-term. This is because most people’s internal systems (immune, digestive, circulatory, lymphatic etc.) are robust enough to do their job of righting the good ship “Healthy Human” whenever she hits stormy weather.
But a recurrent headache, ongoing joint pain, persistent indigestion, allergic flare-ups or long-term skin disorders are all examples of chronic inflammation. And these are highly unlikely to get better on their own… Unless some kind of intervention breaks what has become a vicious cycle of tissue damage.
Left unchecked, chronic inflammation evidently leads to ever worsening general health as the constant degradation of the body’s normal balance perpetuates a destructive chain reaction that produces more and more diverse symptoms, usually culminating in life-threatening illness.
To make matters worse, the very medicines that are often taken for these symptoms, themselves produce side-effects (as drugs invariably do). And these side effects can add to the burden of inflammation in the body.
So, by the time the individual has multiple mystery syndromes, full-blown autoimmune disease or any number of inter-related life-threatening conditions, finding and correcting whatever initially interrupted the balance of their good health would be like trying to find a hypodermic needle in a haystack full of other hypodermic needles under a pile of pills inside a locked barn in the middle of nowhere… without a map!
Modifying the immune response
Research points to the inflammatory response being at the very heart of the development of vitiligo. And so some treatments focus on this aspect of the condition. They aim to neutralise the trigger for the inflammatory response. Or else to interrupt, or prevent, the response in some other way. The idea being to stop the de-pigmentation process in its tracks. For example, immune-suppressive and immunomodulator agents have had varying degrees of success in lessening the immune response to triggers. But most of these have so far produced limited success with vitiligo and many unwanted side effects.
Tacrolimus (Protopic Ointment) and Pimecrolimus (Elidel Cream) are probably the most effective and safest examples of this kind of treatment. These do reduce inflammation. But the side effects cited for both Protopic and Elidel are enough to make anyone think twice about using them. And the same can be said of corticosteroids like Triamcinolone, Hydrocortisone topical and Clobetasol Propionate.
Recent findings suggest that anti-inflammatory drugs for the treatment of rheumatoid arthrtis, like Tofacitinib (Xeljanz ) and Apremilast (Otezla) could potentially be of therapeutic benefit to vitiligo patients. But the evidence so far is sparse. So much more research is likely to be needed before they are approved for this use.
Targeting free radical activity with drugs
Other treatments focus on the oxidative stress that is a feature of inflammation in vitiligo. These include pseudocatalase, which has had some success in combination with Dead Sea climatotherapy or UVB exposure for the treatment of vitiligo. This treatment has enjoyed mainly positive reviews and a good safety record. But it is not without its detractors, with the authors of this paper even claiming it to be totally ineffective.
Another treatment I read about recently involves the topical application Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) as a treatment for vitiligo. Used for its stimulant and immunomodulatory effects on melanocytes, results were encouraging but it is still at the experimental stage.
And yet another experimental treatment is Afamelanotide (Scenesse) which seeks to re-pigment vitiligo by preventing the inflammatory response to UV light.
The potential of these therapies for the future treatment of vitiligo is encouraging. But their efficacy and safety are not yet conclusive. And, since we are talking here about drugs with known side-effects, my choice is still to use nature’s own medicine chest wherever possible to combat the inflammatory response… In particular, antioxidants.
Reducing oxidative stress with antioxidants
Topical, dietary and supplemental antioxidants reduce inflammation and restore acceptable levels of free radical activity in the body. And they do this without fear of side effects.
Applying naturally anti-inflammatory substances to the skin, like coconut oil or aloe vera is safe and may help improve vitiligo as part of a wider nutritional and lifestyle approach. Similarly, the use of custom-made vitiligo treatments like Vitix Gel and Vitix tablets, both containing natural antioxidant extracts, seems to me to be a safer and more effective way of treating the condition than taking unproven, experimental and potentially dangerous drugs.
Certainly, using nutrition as medicine to heal inflammation worked really well for me. This approach resulted in the disappearance of virtually all my white patches over a period of about 18 months. Not only that, but it was achieved without any adverse effects. And, in fact, my vitiligo recovery came with the added benefit of better general health too… Which illustrates the point that, just as chronic inflammation can be a downward spiral, reducing inflammation by restoring balance throughout the body is an upward one.
Click on this link to read my vitiligo nutrition summary.
