??

[plin]

Hi,

Vitiligo, according the dictionary, is a medical word for a "disorder in which there is a loss of pigment resulting in white patches of skin."


What is a more common word for this condition, if any?


Thanks--Plin.

[Pete]

Hi,

Vitiligo, according the dictionary, is a medical word for a "disorder in which there is a loss of pigment resulting in white patches of skin."


What is a more common word for this condition, if any?


Thanks--Plin.
The only other thing I've heard vitiligo called is "Michael Jackson's disease."

[plin]

<<The only other thing I've heard vitiligo called is "Michael Jackson's disease.">>


Is it fair to say then that before Michael Jackson the average English-speaking person was familiar with the word "vitiligo," and that said skin condition or similar condition was known as such? Thanks a lot.


Plin

[Pete]

<<The only other thing I've heard vitiligo called is "Michael Jackson's disease.">>


Is it fair to say then that before Michael Jackson the average English-speaking person was familiar with the word "vitiligo," and that said skin condition or similar condition was known as such? Thanks a lot.


Plin
I can't speak for "the average English-speaking person". I doubt the word was that well known. The condition is not all that common, and I think that many people who happened to see someone who showed the symptoms had no idea what name to apply, or even that the condition had a name. I don't think I had heard the word until I heard it used to explain Michael Jackson's appearance. I even suspect that there are many people who know what "Michael Jackson's disease" is but are not familiar with the word "vitiligo".

(Doctors and people who either have the disease or are close to someone who does would, of course, be exceptions.)