Disorder turning anchor's skin from black to white

[IronLionZion]

DETROIT, Michigan (AP) -- Lee Thomas' skin is betraying him.

Lee Thomas uses creams and makeup to cover his growing patches of colorless skin.



His once brown, even complexion is now mottled with pale patches around his eyes and mouth, along his nose and on his ears; his arms, shoulders and chest are speckled and blotched.

"I'm a black man turning white on television and people can see it," says Thomas, an anchor and entertainment reporter for the local Fox Broadcasting Company affiliate. "If you've watched me over the years, you've seen my hands completely change from brown to white."

Thomas has vitiligo, a disorder in which pigment-making cells are destroyed. White patches appear on different parts of the body, tissues in the mouth and nose, and the retina.

"There is no cause. There is no cure, and it's very random," Thomas says. "I could turn all the way white or mostly white."

As many as 65 million people worldwide have the disorder, including up to 2 million in the United States.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/conditions/12/18/turning.white.ap/index.html

link to story

I met an East Indian fellow with this disorder. His skin was turning white in blotches so he decided to bleach it all white. Going all white was safer and cheaper than coloring the skin brown or black or whatever. Michael Jackson has this disorder too.

More about Vitiligo:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitiligo

[LeftyMom]

1. My junior high art teacher had it.

She was caucasian, but the pigment-less patches were very noticeable against her skin, even with a very light tan.

[Gormy Cuss]

3. I knew a white man with it too.

Some areas of skin were really white, as opposed to the typical pink/yellow/tan blend of "white" skin.

[Xipe Totec]

2. I feel bad for him nt

[iconoclastic cat]

4. Yeah, it can mess with your head. I've had it my whole life.

But I long ago stopped letting it define me. Besides, if someone else can't deal with the fact that I have less pigment in some areas, why is that my problem?

[SoCalDem]

11. I knew a woman with it once. She called herself a big beautiful calico cat

Her name was Catherine and everyone called her "Cat":)

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

5. My grandfather had it

He was white, but the colorless patches looked, frankly, like dead skin.

[iconoclastic cat]

6. Really? I just look a little paler than usual, not dead. nt

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

12. He had other serious health problems

including recurring skin cancers on his face and I'm sure this had something to do with his appearance.

[AlGore-08.com]

7. I worked with an Africa-American woman who had it. She didn't do anything to cover it up.

She had very large "patches" of pale skin all over - - her face, her neck, her arms and her hands. After awhile you didn't notice that she had "patches" - - just like you don't normally notice that someone has freckles.

[Alexander]

8. Michael Jackson claimed he had vitiligo...

It was probably only a case of plastic surgery gone wild, judging by his face now.

It would be interesting to see Lee Thomas completely white, if indeed that does end up happening.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

9. my grandfather had it too.

[spoony]

10. I've always liked Lee

And he's been really courageous sharing this struggle with viewers. All the best to him.