Michael Jackson - Man In The Mirror

Vitiligo
In February in a 90-minute interview with Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jackson told the world that he didn't bleach his skin, stating for the first time that he had vitiligo. The admission went on to promote awareness of vitiligo. A friend claimed he started wearing his signature sequin glove to cover the vitiligo that had begun to appear in the early 80s.It is also confirmed on his autopsy report.

Michael Jackson talks about Vitiligo with Oprah

General Information

Vitiligo is a complex, polygenic disorder characterized by patchy loss of skin pigmentation due to abnormal melanocyte function. Both genetic and environmental etiological factors have been proposed for vitiligo and lack of molecular markers renders difficulties to predict development and progression of the disease. Identification of dysregulated genes has the potential to unravel biological pathways involved in vitiligo pathogenesis, facilitating discovery of potential biomarkers and novel therapeutic approaches. The transcriptional profile of melanocytes from vitiligo patients have been studied. Oligonucleotide microarrays containing approximately 16,000 unique genes were used to analyze mRNA expression in melanocytes from vitiligo patients and age-matched healthy controls. In total, 859 genes were identified as differentially expressed.

There is no cure for vitiligo but there are a number of treatments available which can slow down or improve the condition. In fair-skinned people, avoiding tanning of normal skin can make patches of vitiligo much less noticeable. Treatment options generally fall into four groups:

Skin Camouflage
In mild cases, vitiligo patches can be hidden with makeup or other cosmetic camouflage solutions. If the affected person is pale-skinned, the patches can be made less visible by avoiding sunlight and the sun tanning of unaffected skin. However, exposure to sunlight may also cause the melanocytes to regenerate to allow the pigmentation to come back to its original color.

Depigmentation Therapy
If a person has Vitiligo over more than half of the exposed areas of the body, he or she is not a candidate for repigmentation. Rather, such a person may want to try depigmentation of the remaining pigmented skin. The drug for depigmentation is monobenzylether of hydroquinone. Many patients with Vitiligo are at first apprehensive about the idea of depigmentation and reluctant to go ahead. However, patients who achieve complete depigmentation are usually satisfied with the end results. Some people become allergic to the medication and must discontinue therapy. This therapy takes about a year to complete. The pigment removal is permanent.

Sensitivity to the sun
Patches of vitiligo skin have no natural protection against the sun’s rays. This is because vitiligo skin is white as the melanocytes which produce melanin (skin pigment) are not active. The effect of the sun is normally to increase melanin production and to turn the skin brown; this is a protective mechanism to prevent the skin from being damaged by burning. Therefore, the most important reason for protecting your skin is to prevent sunburn. Not only is this painful, but damage to the skin, including sunburn, can stimulate the vitiligo to spread in some people. As vitiligo skin is particularly vulnerable to sunlight and needs protection, some brands of sunblock.

A high protection sun-block (factor 20 or above) is applied to areas of vitiligo to prevent sunburn. Affected areas of skin are protected when the sun is strong, especially in the middle of the day by wearing, for example, a wide brimmed hat and long sleeved clothing.
 

Karen Faye, (Makeup Artist) About Michaels Skin Disorder

Lupus
Michael Jackson was diagnosed with lupus in 1986.

General Information

Lupus (sometimes generically referred to as SLE, systemic lupus erythematosus) is an autoimmune disease, one that takes on several forms and can affect any part of the body, but is most commonly attacks the skin, joints, the heart, lungs, blood, kidneys and brain.

Autoimmune diseases are characterized by a malfunction of the immune system one in which the immune system cannot distinguish between the body's own cells and tissues and that of foreign matter, like viruses. Rather than simply producing antibodies to attack antigens (viruses, bacteria and similar foreign matter), the immune system creates auto-antibodies that attack the immune system itself.

When this happens, victims can suffer inflammation (the primary feature of lupus), pain, and tissue damage. Inflammation in and of itself can cause pain, heat, redness, swelling and loss of function, either internally (certain organs) or externally (primarily the skin) or both.

Pepsi Commercial Accident

This accident left Michael with terrible second and third degree burns to his scalp…

Michael Jackson has received hospital treatment for serious burns to his head after his hair caught light during a freak filming accident. Some studio audience members said he was so calm, they thought the incident was part of the act.
The singer is reported to have covered his burning hair with his jacket as his brothers and stage hands rushed to help. One member of the audience, Virginia Watson, witnessed the accident. "He was wonderful. He reassured people even as he was being taken away on a stretcher", she said Michael Jackson was taken to hospital where he was treated for second  and third degree burns.

As he described the accident, Michael  wrote: “... bombs went off on either side of my head, and the sparks set my hair on fire. I was dancing down this ramp and turning around, spinning, not knowing I was on fire. Suddenly I felt my hands reflexively go to my head in an attempt to smother the flames.”
As a result of the accident, Pepsi gave Jackson 1.5 million US dollars, which he donated to a burn centre named after him.

Michael about himself in his own words: I am not gay

Official Investigative Deposition (Michael J. Jackson 1996)