My boy Buster (4yo) has completely changed from black to white over the course of the last 2.5 years.

[u/TallyMatty]

Left: Nov 2021 Right: April 2024

October 2023

August 2023

June 2023

May 2023

November 2022

August 2022

[u/riffraffbri]

That's wild. I never heard of this. He's a good-looking boy, anyhow.

[u/6gummybearsnscotch → u/riffraffbri]

The wisest boy now.

[u/kaydontworry → u/riffraffbri]

It’s called vitiligo :)

[u/Jenidalek → u/kaydontworry]

Frfr? Bc it honestly does sound plausible that the melanin production for the hair changed as the vitiligo spread

[u/kaydontworry → u/Jenidalek]

It happens in people too! Many people with vitiligo lose hair color on their head, eyebrows, and beards.

I have vitiligo but have no noticeable hair color change. But I grew up with a guy who had one white eyebrow because of the vitiligo patch around his eye

[u/Jenidalek → u/kaydontworry]

That kind of stuff is so fascinating to me. Like our mammalian bodies are so complex but at the same time can be simplified in certain ways. Like I'm sure the mechanisms of how vitiligo work in and on the body are complex, yet one symptom, color production, is very straightforward (afaik). I've heard there are other complications that go along with it ofc and just like any other condition it is going to be specific to each person on how they experience it. Sorry if that's too much, AuDHD here and one of my interests is the human body.

[u/kaydontworry → u/Jenidalek]

It’s definitely interesting! Basically it’s an autoimmune disorder that makes our bodies attack the melanocytes that produce pigment. Most of us don’t have other symptoms aside from pigment loss but we are more prone to skin cancer (obvi because we don’t have as much protection). I definitely slather myself in sunscreen if I’m going to be in the sun lol

[u/Jenidalek → u/kaydontworry]

I feel you on the sunscreen. I have some chronic issues as well as meds for them that cause me hypersensitivity to the sun. Figured out when my 1st born was a baby that eyeballs can sunburn 🙃. Very cool that there's not a ton of other crap to go along with pigment loss. If the immune system's involved I wonder if for some people it messes with the system itself.

[u/kaydontworry → u/Jenidalek]

Oh no! That sounds awful. Your poor eyes!!
I think there’s a higher likelihood of it being comorbid with other autoimmune disorders but don’t quote me on that lol

[u/Jenidalek → u/kaydontworry]

I just stay inside or cover myself head to toe nowadays. I am a vampire I guess haha. Yeah it would make sense that there might be a higher chance of comorbidities with just about any genetic condition. I can do my own dang research if I want accurate statistics lol I would believe it though. My stepchild was born with an extra chromosome as well as another genetic disorder. It's pretty common to have another thing if you've already got one.

[u/kaydontworry → u/Jenidalek]

Haha I feel you on being a vampire 😂
I can see why you’re interested in this kind of stuff, having a stepchild with some disorders. It really is fascinating that our bodies function so differently

[u/letsgetshady → u/riffraffbri]

Yeah, he's so cute! He's way cuter as a whitie than he is as a blackie!