New clue in Michael Jackson's puzzling pigment disorder

Michael Jackson was repeatedly mocked for his fluctuating skin tone, despite the fact depigmentation is a recognized treatment for vitiligo.

Diane Mapes writes: Imagine waking up one morning with a white splotch on the side of your face. Over time, the splotch gets bigger and is joined by others on your hands, your arm pits, your head, your mouth, your belly button, even your groin.

Sound like a bad dream? It’s actually the sort of thing that happens on a daily basis to the millions of Americans who suffer from vitiligo

The disease -- which causes people to lose some or all of the pigment in their skin -- has baffled medical researchers for years, but scientists may have finally cracked the code on vitiligo -- the disorder that plagued Michael Jackson and currently affects up to 1 percent of the U.S. population.

The disease hits all ethnic groups with the same frequency, but it’s more noticeable -- and often more devastating -- for people with dark skin.

Thanks to new research, though, those with vitiligo may one day be able to kick this pigment-leaching puzzler of a disease to the curb.

Researchers at the University of Florida, the University of Colorado and elsewhere did a genome-wide study of over 800 patients with vitiligo and 1,300 patients without and found a dozen genes -- all associated with the body’s immune response -- that one researcher calls "potential problem children."

"We thought for a long time that vitiligo was autoimmune-related -- the antibodies and other immune cells seem to be acting out against the pigment-producing cells -- and now we have good evidence that it is," says Wayne McCormack, associate professor of pathology, immunology and laboratory medicine at the University of Florida’s College of Medicine in Gainsville, Fla.

While finding a cure is still "the $64 million question," McCormack says this latest research is a huge breakthrough.

"People with vitiligo face a lot of discrimination and fear. It’s even worse in places like India where it’s confused with leprosy," McCormack explains.

Case in point, vitiligo sufferer Michael Jackson was repeatedly mocked for his fluctuating skin tone, despite the fact depigmentation is a recognized treatment for vitiligo.