Perfectly Flawed: A Young woman’s purpose

Telisha Gibson is a 23 year old college student from Brooklyn New York. Like Many 23 year olds discovering and igniting their passions to make their Mark in the world, Telisha is using her marks to ignite her passion to illuminate and raise awareness for Vitligo research.

Perfectly Flawed is an organisation started by Telisha Gibson to raise awareness for individuals who have vitiligo.

“The goal of perfectly flawed is to raise money to make a documentary to enter into film festivals, so we can raise awareness about our community and prompt more research to be done to find better treatments and possibly even a cure.” -Telisha Gibson

Telisha, who also is diagnosed with the condition, maintains the mantra that “perfectly flawed is to embrace ones imperfections and seeking your own personal perfection.”

Telisha hopes that through awareness and film project, it will build a network of those afflicted and they can be affiliated by building a positive self image. By embracing her condition, Telisha has accepted a mission to unite and strengthen a population otherwise divided by the unknown. By raising awareness Telisha is beginning to empower through knowledge and healing through community. Through her site you may find a wellness blog highlighting positive living as well as the Perfectly Flawed tee in which the proceeds to the production of the Film.

Visit atswork.myshopify.com to see more.

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Daily Mail reports on Vitiligo

Logging onto Facebook I noticed the headline:  "How stress can bleach the colour of your skin: That's what happened to Emma, but a new drug could ease her anguish..."

Imagine my surprise when I realised it was an article by the Daily Mail, about a woman suffering with vitiligo?

I's about time the UK as a nation began understanding what vitiligo is. Read the article here. It's great progress for Vitiligo awareness. And well needed.

Thank you Daily Mail.

 

 

 

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Football coach talks about his vitiligo

The Jets' new D-line coach hasn't let vitiligo stop him from achieving success.

 

Karl Dumbar, a professional football team coach, has spoken about his vitiligo. Struggling with the disorder through his teens, ESPN has shared that he endured "countless stares, cruel nicknames, school fights and too many days in sweltering Louisiana heat" while covering up - to "conceal the sinister disease that was turning his black skin white".

Dunbar has also shared an inspirational video (which is well worth a watch).

Speaking about his vitiligo, Dunbar commented:

"It's just something I've had to deal with. A lot of times, it's an icebreaker. People come up to me and ask me about it. It's easy for me to get noticed, and it's been great."

 

"God did this for a reason. There's nothing wrong with me. You can't give it to anybody, because I have three kids and they don't have it. My wife doesn't have it and we've been married for 21 years."

Read the full article and check out his video here.

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Eye colour linked to vitiligo

New research has revealed eye colour could be linked to vitiligo.

A study of nearly 3,000 non-Hispanic Americans of European descent has found people with blue eyes are less likely to have vitiligo. Researchers also identified 13 new genes that may  predispose people to the condition.

Among the people studied with vitiligo:

• 27% had blue or gray eyes, compared with 52% of Americans of European descent without the condition.
• 43% had tan or brown eyes vs. 27%.
• 30% had green or hazel eyes vs. 22%.

Although the study (published in the journal Nature Genetics) focused on vitiligo, it was also suggested findings could shed light on how eye color may have implications on melanoma risk - because the two diseases are related genetically. People with brown eyes may be less likely to have melanoma.

 

Richard Spritz, director of the Human Medical Genetics and Genomics Program at the school of medicine, which coordinated the study commented:

"We think that vitiligo represents over-activity of a normal process by which one's immune system searches out and destroys early cancerous melanoma cells."

"Genetically, in some ways vitiligo and melanoma are polar opposites. Some of the same genetic variations that make one more likely to have vitiligo make one less likely to have melanoma and vice-versa."

The study's authors concluded that as researchers learn more about the genes associated with vitiligo, they may learn more about the genes involved in other autoimmune diseases as well as melanoma.

So, what is your eyecolour? And what are your thoughts about this study? Let us know by commenting below, tweeting @vitiligproject or getting in touch via our facebook fanpage.

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We need your support for World Vitiligo Day

We're lucky to have several Not for Profit initiatives and organisations working hard to prepare for this year's World Vitiligo Day.

VITSAF, Vitiligo Society, VR Foundation, Vitinomics to name a few.

But, the key thing in all this is support. To make this happen, we need your vote. If you haven't already - please sign the below petitions. We NEED this for World Vitiligo Day to be recognised and we ALL will benefit.

Simply click the links below, fill in your details and submit. It'll be well worth it.

VITSAF petition

Change.org petition

25June.org petition

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If anyone knows of any more petition sites, please let me know and I'll update the list ASAP.

Thanks for all your support guys. Comments welcome.

 

 

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VR Foundation to launch new vitiligo resources

VR Foundation, a philanthropic organisation that funds and fast-tracks medical research for vitiligo globally, has been working on new resources for vitiligo.

Over the next few months, it will launch two new resources for use by: 1) dermatologists and support groups, and 2) vitiligo patients, their families and their friends.

The resources will support both groups in their understanding of the disorder.

E-book

The first is a new e-book called "Vitiligo: Problems and Solutions" for those living with vitiligo - and their families & friends.

With over 500+ pages, the book aims to provide direct support and information about the disorder.

The e-book is due out on around June 25 - World Vitiligo Day - and you can RSVP for a copy now by getting in touch with the Foundation.

Q&A handbook

The Foundation is also set to launch a new handbook for dermatologists. The Vitiligo Q&A Handbook will provide detailed information about vitiligo and is due out this April. It will be available for download, and a limited number will be printed for VITSAF and support groups.

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For more information about the VR Foundation, visit  vrfoundation.org. You can also get in contact with the Foundation and keep up with updates via Twitter.

 

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Leanna’s record-breaking challenge for vitiligo

18-year old Leanna Shuttleworth is about to embark on a record-breaking challenge; one with hopes to raise over £40,000 for the Vitiligo Society.

 

The challenge, that kick starts next month, involves climbing two of the world's highest mountains - Mount Everest and Mount Lhotse - back to back, in just 24 hours.

 

If successful, Leanna will become the youngest British female to summit Everest and to complete the Seven Summits, as well as become the first woman to summit two 8,000m peaks in under 24 hours, and the youngest female to summit Lhotse.

 

The climb

 

Leanne is scaling the two 8,000m peaks with her father – and this challenge would also make the father-daughter team one of the very few to ever have completed the Seven Summits challenge.

 

"It's going to be very challenging physically and mentally, so I've been training hard to prepare – especially for the extremely low temperatures and high altitude, where we'll need breathing apparatus.

"But I am feeling confident and I really hope that my climb will encourage other young women to get involved with the sport, which is so traditionally male."

 

Buckinghamshire-born Leanne now lives in Dubai and is already the youngest British woman to successfully reach Antarctica's highest peak. She also holds the record as the youngest British woman to scale the highest mountains on three continents; North America,South Americaand the Antarctic.

 

The cause

 

Speaking about reasons behind the climb, Leanna commented: “We have chosen to raise money for the Vitiligo Society as my mum is affected by the condition.”

 

“My mum first developed it in her 20s, when she was very tanned, so it had a huge impact on her confidence, making her give up swimming, as well as being difficult to protect in the sun, and hard to camouflage with make-up for going out.

 

“Now living the Middle East it’s been very difficult for her to stay out of the sun, both to stop it burning (those patches of skin have no protection from the sun) and to avoid a tan as that makes the patches much more obvious.

 

“The Vitiligo Society was a great help for her when she first developed it, giving her information, tips, contacts also with vitiligo, and keeping her up to date on current research.”

 

Support

 

To support Leanna in her world record attempt, donations can be made at: www.justgiving.com/leannashuttleworth. Leanna will also be posting regular updates and photos on her blog.

 

Everyone here at Vitiligo Project is thrilled for Leanna and wishes her the best of luck. We’ll definitely be following the journey on her blog and are already looking forward to a catch up after the challenge.

 



If you’d like to contact Leanna, or would like to find out about corporate sponsorships – you can do so here.

 

Finally, we’re going to end with some inspirational words from Leanna: “Follow your dreams, make them happen, because they usually are possible, even if they don’t always seem it.”

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