Is it just me or are you tired of vitiligo being referred to as “the Michael Jackson disease”? It seems that virtually all news sites reporting on vitiligo always place him as a reference to the skin condition and, frankly, we don’t really know if it is indeed fact that he has it.
I wish that someone else with world-wide notoriety who has vitiligo would step forward as a representative: a political figure, a writer, a celebrity of any industry. Just imagine the positive attention for vitiligo cure research funding that could potentially come from this.
Hi Nathalie,
This Michel (I have Vitiligo). Michael does have it. It’s been recorded in the one of the Universities’ Medical Journal, although Michael opted for chemical bleaching to remove any patchy look. I believe it’s here:
(Scroll down to about halfway.)
Personally, I don’t mind calling it that way, simply because of the stigma and negative connotations people have about Vitiligo. Especially the one about contagion.
Everytime I say “I have Vitiligo” to someone I just met and shook their hands, you can noticeably see them leaning a bit away from me, albeit unconsciously, as if they’re afraid they’ll catch something.
Jackson is a well-known personality, and everybody knows his “disease” is not contagious or anything life-threatening.
I know it’s a pain to call it the “Michael Jackson Disease” (and I would have wished some other popular figure would have it instead, to whom we can refer it to). But when I do say, “Oh, it’s the Michael Jackson Disease” you can see a bit of relief from their facial expressions.
Sad, I know. But it’s better than having people shun you because of their lack of knowledge of the disease.
Anyway, thanks again for such a great blog! Keep it up.
Michel Fortin
He does have it.