Detroit Reporter Battles Disorder Taking Away His ColorThe brotha forgoes makeup when he's not on the job. At work, however, creams and makeup are used to cover the growing patches of skin — which he calls devoid of color — on his face, hands and arms. Those of you that watch him on Fox's affliate in the once famed motor city had to have noticed his hands. Their the dead giveaway.
TV Anchor Lee Thomas has vitiligo, a skin disease in which pigment cells are destroyed and melanin no longer can be produced by the body. "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."
Vitiligo affects men and women of all races and ages. "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. Few people, outside medical professionals and those with the disease, had heard the term "vitiligo" until Michael Jackson revealed in the early 1990s that the disorder was behind his skin turning brown to white. It's not fatal, but experts say vitiligo robs people of self-confidence, evokes ridicule and unpleasant stares, and pushes some into unforced seclusion.
The 40-year-old Thomas says that's not where the disorder needs to be. He openly talks about vitiligo and how it has affected his life and career, and has written a book about his journey titled Turning White: A Memoir of Change. Along the way, Thomas says he's met others with the disorder and has become a celebrity spokesman for the Columbus, Ohio-based National Vitiligo Foundation.
Common sites of pigment loss are:
• Exposed areas: Hands, face, upper part of the chest.
• Around body openings: Eyes, nostrils, mouth, nipples, umbilicus, genitalia.
• Body folds: Arm pits, groin.
• Sites of injury: Cuts, scrapes, burns.
• Hair: Early graying of hair of the scalp, beard or other areas.
• Area immediately surrounding pigmented moles.
Treatment options include:
• Sunscreen and cosmetic camouflage cream: Improves appearance of skin.
• Topical corticosteroid therapy: Helps return some color to skin.
• Oral psoralen photochemotherapy: Oral medication, followed by exposure of skin to artificial ultraviolet light or sunlight.
• Autologous skin grafts or "minipunch" skin transfer: Removes tiny pieces of pigmented skin from one part of the body and grafts to another.
• Tattooing (micropigmentation): Tattooing implants pigment into your skin with a special surgical instrument.
Vitiligo attacks the soul and psyche, foundation executive director Robert Haas says. "When was the last time you saw someone with vitiligo handling your food? It is the public's image that it is some leprosy-type of disease," he says. "A lot of folks feel this disease has trapped them and kept them away from their life goals." That was Thomas' fear.
Dana Hahn, WJBK's vice president of news, says the station was concerned about Thomas possibly leaving because of the condition. "Lee is also a friend and we wanted to help," she says. "He had covered it up so well, we really didn't realize the impact it was having or how far it had spread." Thomas finally agreed to tell his story on television in November 2005.
After the first segment on Thomas' vitiligo aired, Hahn says he took a leave of absence and missed the initial response from viewers.
"I received 40 to 50 e-mails a day the entire time he was gone," Hahn says. "So many people found support and encouragement in his story. I've never seen the kind of response to any story in my 12 years at Fox 2." At the time, Thomas was already writing his book. "As all those things happened, the tone of the book changed," he says. "I was writing for all those people who were afraid to come outside."
"There were times when I would not come out of the house," he says. "I call it a mental war. It was me saying, 'I don't want to deal with it today.' I never stayed in for very long. I know people who stay in now for months at a time." When he's out socially now, Thomas forgoes the makeup he wears on camera. He met his girlfriend of seven months, Karen Tate, at a vegetarian restaurant they both enjoy. She said when they're out together, she notices some people staring and making muffled comments about his appearance.
"He doesn't say anything," Tate, 28, says. "It doesn't really bother me. Some people are just rude." She says she sees past what some people can't. "He just has a very free spirit. He is just a very nice guy. He opens up completely in his book. It is something he really wanted to do."
Surprisingly, Thomas gives vitiligo some credit.
"Having this disease forces me to focus on what I am: kind, caring, honest," he says. "There are people who have diseases that will kill them." [AP]
TV Anchor Lee Thomas has vitiligo, a skin disease in which pigment cells are destroyed and melanin no longer can be produced by the body. "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."
Vitiligo affects men and women of all races and ages. "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. Few people, outside medical professionals and those with the disease, had heard the term "vitiligo" until Michael Jackson revealed in the early 1990s that the disorder was behind his skin turning brown to white. It's not fatal, but experts say vitiligo robs people of self-confidence, evokes ridicule and unpleasant stares, and pushes some into unforced seclusion.The 40-year-old Thomas says that's not where the disorder needs to be. He openly talks about vitiligo and how it has affected his life and career, and has written a book about his journey titled Turning White: A Memoir of Change. Along the way, Thomas says he's met others with the disorder and has become a celebrity spokesman for the Columbus, Ohio-based National Vitiligo Foundation.Common sites of pigment loss are:
• Exposed areas: Hands, face, upper part of the chest.
• Around body openings: Eyes, nostrils, mouth, nipples, umbilicus, genitalia.
• Body folds: Arm pits, groin.
• Sites of injury: Cuts, scrapes, burns.
• Hair: Early graying of hair of the scalp, beard or other areas.
• Area immediately surrounding pigmented moles.
Treatment options include:
• Sunscreen and cosmetic camouflage cream: Improves appearance of skin.
• Topical corticosteroid therapy: Helps return some color to skin.
• Oral psoralen photochemotherapy: Oral medication, followed by exposure of skin to artificial ultraviolet light or sunlight.
• Autologous skin grafts or "minipunch" skin transfer: Removes tiny pieces of pigmented skin from one part of the body and grafts to another.
• Tattooing (micropigmentation): Tattooing implants pigment into your skin with a special surgical instrument.
Vitiligo attacks the soul and psyche, foundation executive director Robert Haas says. "When was the last time you saw someone with vitiligo handling your food? It is the public's image that it is some leprosy-type of disease," he says. "A lot of folks feel this disease has trapped them and kept them away from their life goals." That was Thomas' fear.
Dana Hahn, WJBK's vice president of news, says the station was concerned about Thomas possibly leaving because of the condition. "Lee is also a friend and we wanted to help," she says. "He had covered it up so well, we really didn't realize the impact it was having or how far it had spread." Thomas finally agreed to tell his story on television in November 2005.
After the first segment on Thomas' vitiligo aired, Hahn says he took a leave of absence and missed the initial response from viewers.
"I received 40 to 50 e-mails a day the entire time he was gone," Hahn says. "So many people found support and encouragement in his story. I've never seen the kind of response to any story in my 12 years at Fox 2." At the time, Thomas was already writing his book. "As all those things happened, the tone of the book changed," he says. "I was writing for all those people who were afraid to come outside.""There were times when I would not come out of the house," he says. "I call it a mental war. It was me saying, 'I don't want to deal with it today.' I never stayed in for very long. I know people who stay in now for months at a time." When he's out socially now, Thomas forgoes the makeup he wears on camera. He met his girlfriend of seven months, Karen Tate, at a vegetarian restaurant they both enjoy. She said when they're out together, she notices some people staring and making muffled comments about his appearance.
"He doesn't say anything," Tate, 28, says. "It doesn't really bother me. Some people are just rude." She says she sees past what some people can't. "He just has a very free spirit. He is just a very nice guy. He opens up completely in his book. It is something he really wanted to do."
Surprisingly, Thomas gives vitiligo some credit.
"Having this disease forces me to focus on what I am: kind, caring, honest," he says. "There are people who have diseases that will kill them." [AP]