Vitiligo is a chronic disorder of de-pigmentation of the skin. Very little is known about the causes of vitiligo and they consist mostly in hypothesis, which, in most cases, affirm the disturb derives from stress. This uncertainty is due to insufficient funds for research on vitiligo worldwide, which makes it a still very much unknown disorder.
Many doctors in India who have been studying vitiligo, found a link with gastro intestinal infections caused by polluted water and this would help explain why it is so spread in this part of the world.
India is one of the countries in the world where vitiligo is mostly diffused and where it constitutes a big social problem, as most people wrongly believe it is contagious. The inheritance that leprosy left in people’s mentality is still very much present: when people come across a person with a skin problem such as vitiligo, they would generally associate it to leprosy and avoid him or her.