My dream vitiligo cure

Last Updated on 23rd July 2024 by Caroline Haye

An organic way to heal

For hundreds (if not thousands) of years people with vitiligo have dreamt of being cured. Quite literally dreamt, if I am anything to go by. I remember waking up with that dream still fresh in my mind. It seemed to my half asleep brain that, by some miracle, all my white patches had disappeared overnight and my normal skin colour was back. Then one look in the mirror would bring me crashing back down to earth. My dream vitiligo cure was just that… A dream. Maybe you have had similar dreams yourself. If so, you will know that they are the polar opposite of nightmares. They are blissful… Until you wake up, of course.

Or maybe yours are more like daydreams, or just fervent wishes or prayers. A desire for someone to wave a healing magic wand. However you describe them, these fantasies – for as long as they last – fill you with a feeling that is equal parts relief and euphoria. A sense that everything you ever wanted has come to pass. And, in these dreams, your cure is always total. It is always permanent. And it never, ever comes with unwanted side effects.

The reality, of course, is that life isn’t like that. There are no magic wands. Miracles, if you believe in them (which, actually, I do) are rare. And man-made solutions to problems are never perfect. Especially when we are talking about medical interventions. With every pharmaceutical or surgical solution to a given problem come unwanted new problems. And with every potential benefit comes at least one new risk.

The problem with drugs

Of course, the recently approved topical vitiligo drug Opzelura* (and other pharmaceuticals currently under development) represent a wonderful breakthrough. The very fact that so much attention and hard cash is going into vitiligo research and so much has been learned in the past decade or so is, in itself, a dream come true. I am certain that for many people it will improve their quality of life immeasurably. And I am equally certain that science will continue to build on the lessons learned from developing these drugs and come up with improved ones in the future. Hopefully, ones with fewer unwanted side effects. But I also know that there are many vitiligo sufferers who will not have access to these drugs. And there will be many more who will choose not to use them because they will judge that, for them, the risks outweigh the potential benefit.

[* Note for UK readers. Since publishing this blog, the UK funding body for the NHS has rejected this drug as a prescription medication for vitiligo, although it is available to purchase privately.]

I’ll admit there was a time when I would have tried almost any treatment that promised a degree of improvement in my vitiligo, no matter how small and regardless of the risks. So I understand how desperate some people will be to try new drugs as soon as they become available. But I suspect that many will have unrealistic expectations, especially if they only read the hype and certain media headlines.

“A cream that makes vitiligo vanish within months”

The Mail on Sunday, for example, began their article on Opzelura’s approval in the UK earlier this month with the words: “NHS patients with the patchy skin condition vitiligo could next year access a cream that makes it vanish within months.” If you took this at face value you would think this truly was the longed-for healing magic wand, the vitiligo dream cure. It is not until you read through the entire article that you discover the cream is not 100% effective, that there are side effects, that it only works for as long as you keep using it and that it is too expensive to treat more than the most limited, visible parts of the body, like face and hands.

My idea of a perfect vitiligo cure

So, in the absence of magic wands, what would my ideal vitiligo cure look like? Well, I think you will have guessed that it would not be a drug or a surgical procedure. It would be something much more organic. Something designed to coax the human body gently into healing itself. Another fantasy, you may think. But I believe this one is entirely possible. In fact, I believe it already exists to a limited extent. And I am optimistic that even better therapies that work in this way will become available before too much longer.

But first, let’s look at the natural therapies that are already available…

Existing natural vitiligo therapies

Diet and nutrition

For some people like myself nutritional therapy, using dietary manipulation and / or specific daily supplements, works extremely well. (As with most vitiligo therapies it seems you have to continue with your protocol in order to prevent a relapse. But the big advantage is that this is something you can easily do at home and it has no reported side effects… except to improve your general health into the bargain.

Antioxidant therapy

For others, topical and oral antioxidant supplementation successfully enables the body to recover its lost pigment by fighting the oxidative stress that is a key feature of the vitiligo process. An example of this is the use of pseudocatalse (as in the so-called Dead Sea Treatment pioneered by Professor Karin Schallreuter) and in the pigmentation regulating gel Vitix (a drug-free topical remedy containing high levels of catalase and other antioxidants).

Herbal remedies

Herbal remedies, including Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine have been used for centuries to treat vitiligo. Often, these are used together with UV exposure in order to stimulate new pigment. For example, ingesting or applying certain plants and seeds (like psoralea seed extract or khellin) can promote repigmentation by sensitising the skin to UV light. And, conversely, a species of fern called polypodium leucotomos has some success in supporting new pigment by reducing sensitivity to UV light, meaning that you can tolerate more exposure without burning.

Phototherapy and heliotherapy

Many vitiligo sufferers find that phototherapy – in particular, narrowband UVb light (either on its own or in combination with one or more of the therapies above) restores some or all of their lost pigment. And, in some cases, simple sun exposure (heliotherapy) can achieve similar results. In fact, this is an example of an ancient form of therapy being updated and used as a universally recognised medical treatment.

The pros and cons of existing natural therapies

The main advantage of all these existing natural therapies is that, if they are used correctly, they do no harm and often achieve positive results. The disadvantage is that some work better for certain individuals than for others. For some, they don’t work at all. And in every case, as far as I know, vitiligo returns if the therapy is discontinued for too long. So, my dream vitiligo cure would need to have all of the advantages of existing natural therapies without the disadvantages.

There may come a time when gene therapy will achieve this aim. It may be possible to “genetically engineer” a cure to conditions like vitiligo so that they don’t recur, or never develop in the first place. But science is still a long way from doing this, and doing it safely. So what other potential solution do I foresee? Well, to give you a clue, it’s one that involves “bugs”.

Microbiome medicine

The inside and outside of the human body hosts literally trillions of microbes of different varieties and in different combinations. But the specific strains, ratios and numbers of these bugs vary enormously from one individual to the next, meaning that we each have a unique bacterial ecosystem in our gut, on our skin and throughout our body. And the particular quality and balance of this bacterial ecosystem determines the health and function of our entire body, including our skin.

In-depth research into the human microbiome and its health implications (and applications) is still relatively new, although the concept of the “gut-skin axis” was first proposed as long ago as 1930. But it has become a popular and competitive field of research. This is because of its potential for curing all kinds of chronic disease – especially autoimmune conditions – without the use of imperfect pharmaceutical or surgical interventions.

People with vitiligo have an imbalance of microbes

Research has already shown that people with vitiligo have significantly fewer strains and too little variety of good bacteria in their gut and in the affected areas of their skin. It is not clear if this is a cause of vitiligo or an effect. But one theory is that this imbalance of gut flora (dysbiosis) leads to leaky gut and, in turn, to an autoimmune response. And there are most likely additional ways a poverty of healthy gut bacteria might lead to depigmentation. (By increasing oxidative stress and inflammation, for example.)

Ongoing research aimed at identifying exactly which strains of microbes are implicated in particular diseases holds the very realistic promise of producing safe and effective treatments that will correct the various imbalances of microbes associated with each condition… Which would allow the body to heal itself naturally and organically. Such a therapy would most likely come in the form of a probiotic pill and/or topical probiotics containing the specific combination of microbes needed to target each disease.

Will this dream become reality?

To a limited extent this dream is already a reality. A great many people today find that they enjoy better health as a result of consuming probiotics and prebiotics on a regular basis. Some do this as a general preventative measure, to maintain a healthy balance of gut flora. Others successfully use these foods and supplements specifically to manage certain health issues. (Like candida and other yeast infections or to repopulate their microbiome after a course of antibiotics.) And an increasing number of cosmetics producers have started to incorporate topical probiotic ingredients into their products for their skin health and beauty benefits too.

So far, most formulations of probiotic supplements and skin care are quite generic. In other words, they are a relatively blunt instrument compared to the kind of microbiome manipulation that will be needed to provide specific cures for specific conditions. This is because there is still so much to learn about the human microbiome. But formulations are already becoming more sophisticated and targeted towards certain health issues. One example of this is a range of topical and oral probiotics that was originally developed to combat psoriasis but has also proved helpful in improving other skin disorders (which is why I included them in Vitiligo Store**).

Ironing out the bugs

The chances are, of course, that for microbiome medicines to work long term they will need to be used on an ongoing basis, just like the other natural therapies I referred to earlier. But, then again, if they deliver total repigmentation without side effects I think that would be a pretty good outcome. And, given that a procedure (known as FMT or Faecal Microbiota Transplantation) already exists, which appears to alter the gut microbiome permanently, the potential for a permanent cure for vitiligo – and many other conditions besides – does not seem like an impossible dream after all, but rather a perfectly achievable reality.

So, do I believe that dreams come true? Yes, I do. My own vitiligo recovery was admittedly just shy of 100%. But, when you have lost 80% of your colour and then you recover almost all of it, that feels like a miracle. (And yes – I do still have to take supplements every day to maintain my results. But at least these supplements offer a safe and healthy way to heal naturally.) However, for a treatment to be a dream vitiligo cure it would need to completely and permanently reverse pigment loss in every case and it would do it by safely harnessing the body’s own organic healing mechanisms. So that is a tall order. But my guess is that, however long it takes to perfect, the medicine most likely to turn this dream into reality will involve the human microbiome. In other words, once science has ironed out the bugs, the dream vitiligo cure could actually turn out to be… well… bugs.

[** For operational reasons the Ozona Organics range is only available from Vitiligo Store for delivery in the UK.]