Vitiligo is a skin disease which causes white patches to appear on the skin. It is mistakenly considered an “aesthetic” disease, not affecting other vital organs of the body and not limiting life expectancy. In fact, the disease has one of the lowest quality of life indicators, as its psychological impact is often devastating for patients. They feel discriminated against and the subject of ridicule, caution and disgust, often tending to hide their skin patches with clothing, concealers or tanning lotions. For this reason, as well as due to the widespread belief that “there is no cure”, many patients fail to pursue any therapeutic path. The incidence of the pathology on the population is therefore strongly underestimated.

There are two forms of vitiligo: non-segmental and segmental.
The non-segmental form is the most widespread in the world: in the majority of cases, it is located on the face, hands and feet, elbows, knees and torso. It may also affect the hair and other areas of body hair, consequently whitening the hair shaft.
The segmental form is rarer: it affects only a single area of the body, unilaterally and permanently, with no tendency to progress.

The difficulty in identifying a successful treatment, along with the great distress caused by vitiligo, lead many patients to the continuous and exasperating search for “alternative” therapies, often very fanciful, as well as not very – or not at all – effective.
The cost of vitiligo treatment is, unfortunately, essentially covered by patients. Due to the fact that it is considered an “aesthetic” disease, vitiligo is not fully recognised by the national health system: patients generally have access to phototherapy sessions (but not in all regions of Italy) and to some corticosteroid creams. This also means many patients give up on any treatment.