[Anonymous January 31, 1997 at 2:28 am Post count: 93172]

#1057096

I posted a couple of messages some months ago…I live in South Australia. I’ve now discovered that my 7 year old son has Vitiligo which is closedly related to thyroid disease. Vitiligo is an autoimmune disease where antibodies attack the skin’s pigmentation, causing white patches which have no protection from UV rays and therefore makes those areas susceptible to skin cancer.
Has anyone else had this experience? Now my son has been tested for thyroid disease although nothing has showed up (yet).

[Anonymous January 31, 1997 at 6:40 am Post count: 93172]

#1165175

One of the books I’ve read recently, mentioned that if your family has a history of autoimmune diseases of one sort or another, that there is an increased likelihood that you might be susceptible to an autoimmune problem. There is no “close” connection between thyroid and vitiligo in the sense of cause and effect, necessarily. It’s just that the presence of one or more autoimmune problems in a family indicate that there is a genetic predisposition for them. And even given the predisposition, there’s no way of telling if anybody will get one or not.

My best friend has vitiligo (and no thyroid problems). Her condition has been kept under control for the most part in recent years.

Take care,

Bobbi

[Anonymous January 31, 1997 at 9:18 am Post count: 93172]

#1165176

Catherine, I too have loss of pigmentation from my elbows down to my fingers. I have had these spots for as long as I can remember. Sizes go from the largest being about the size of a pencil eraser,then smaller. They’ve been present since at least grade school which was 45 years ago. My GD diagnosis was made a couple of months ago. Have not developed any skin cancer and always have had a large sun exposure. Hopefully this will never be more than it is.

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