This month in celebration of World Vitiligo Day on 25 June, I would like to share with you a patient’s story who is very close to my heart. Not only was she the match which kindled my fascination into holistic integrative dermatology but she was the reason I spent two years studying the pigment cell condition of vitiligo and developing a test which would predict a patient’s response to treatment.

My mentor Prof Gail Todd always told me that my greatest teachers would be my patients. Mrs H – you were my first and greatest teacher and one of the reasons I became a dermatologist. Thank you for allowing me to share your story and for changing the trajectory of my life.

YES, vitiligo is a skin pigmentation problem where white patches develop on the skin.

Autoimmune diseases are a group of diseases where your immune cells (that should be fighting infections) start to attack your normal cells. For example, in vitiligo, your immune cells are attacking the colour cells in your skin, leaving you with a light patch. Or in alopecia areata, your immune cells are attacking your hair follicles, and you lose that patch of hair. In some autoimmune diseases like lupus (also called SLE – systemic lupus erythematosus), your immune cells attack various organs leading to all kinds of symptoms.

The skin (what a wonderful organ) is a very visible organ. So it’s easier to spot early signs that your body might be ‘attacking’ itself and that you might have an autoimmune disease. Dr Lerinza teaches us the 5 early warning signs that you should look out for…

South Africa is renowned for our beautiful climate, picture perfect beaches and bucket-list bushveld adventures. An active outdoor lifestyle together with one of the highest monitored global ultraviolet levels sets the stage for our South African population to have one of the highest skin cancer rates world-wide. Keep reading for your CHEAT SHEETS to skin cancer’s 3 main Big Bad Wolves. Learn how to identify them and how worried you should be about them!