May is everyone’s favorite month of the year when Hollywood’s biggest names gather together to promote their newest films at the Cannes Film Festival. Apart from covering movies, what drove media’s attention this time was a few glamorous looks that hit the red carpet. Our favorite Winnie Harlow represented vitiligo at the Cannes once again, draped in a Jean Paul Gaultier’s Red and Orange Dress. Winnie was included in the list of ’20 best dressed from Cannes Film Festival 2019′ by Harper’s Bazaar UK. Do we need to explain why?
May 2019 brought another good news for vitiligo’s representation in Indian politics. As soon as the world’s largest democracy declared the result of 2019 General Election, Santosh Kumar Gangwar, a veteran politician with vitiligo, was declared Member of Parliament (MP) from Bareilly Lok Sabha (LS) seat. With his latest win, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader was elected MP from Bareilly for a record, eighth times. Santosh who garnered 565270 votes subsequently sworn in as the incharge of the Ministry of Labour and Employment for the Government of India.
May 2019 was an exciting month for vitiligans living in the UK as they got to read about their inspirations in media. Jade Hill clearly didn’t let vitiligo get in the way of her dreams as she made a shortlist in the Miss England competition. The 23-year-old from Redcar quoted, “I have had vitiligo since being little. Over the years it has knocked my confidence. But as I have got older I have learned to accept it and not let it get in the way of my dreams.”
Two of our Vitiligo Crusaders from the UK, Natalie Ambersley and Shankar Jalota, were in limelight too. Natalie was invited by Sylvia Mac, the founder of Love Disfigure (a social media support network for people with conditions that affect their appearance), for a photo shoot to mark Mental Health Awareness Week. Natalie was pictured holding the placard ’embrace’ for the photo shoot. On the other hand, Shankar spoke to Manchester Evening News about his mental struggle with vitiligo. “My heart sank the day I had to reveal my vitiligo, but it was the day I became the real me again,” he quoted in an exclusive story.
As an interesting development, TOWIE star Demi Sims bravely opened up to fans that she has vitiligo in an awe-inspiring Instagram post. She uploaded a swimming suit picture on Instagram, to reveal that she’s sick of trying to hide the condition. “The thing is I can’t be bothered to keep editing them out or fake tanning and putting make up over them anymore so that people don’t judge,” Demi wrote in the caption.
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On the vitiligo research front, an interesting observation was published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. According to the results of a small pilot study, a twice-daily 2% tofacitinib cream in addition to narrow-band ultraviolet B (NBUVB) administration has shown promise for improving the symptoms of facial vitiligo. However, just like many other studies pertaining to vitiligo’s treatment, this study too included the limitation of small sample size and the lack of control groups.
