Auto Immune Diseases and Michael Jackson

I consider a 14ct gold-lined coffin to be an obscenity.

However, if I may say a word or two about the late Michael Jackson's medical condition.

You can research for yourself - it's not well-publicised and little-known, but in several interviews by Mr Jackson and some of his medical team, it was openly admitted that he had two auto-immune diseases, both 4 times more common in African-Americans than Whites.

The first is Vitiligo. This is a condition where the body's immune system attacks the melanin-producing cells in the skin. In mild conditions, the patient ends up with albino-white spots and blotches. In the usual case, the patient ends up looking piebald, like an apaloosa horse, or if African-American, a Jersey cow. In severe cases though, the patient ends up looking like a Dalmation: ghostly white, with some irregular dark spots.

The best cosmetic result in such a case is to try to even out the irregularity with cosmetics, slightly darkening the ghostly palor, and bleaching the dark areas so they don't stand out too much.

A patient with mild vitiligo might look like this:


A patient with moderate to severe vitiligo - with and without makeup - might look like this:


A patient with severe vitiligo, with some of the makeup having worn off during the workday, might look like this:


Sufferers from severe vitiligo get severe sunburn even from reflected sunlight, as do albinos. They wear concealing clothing, gloves, wide-brimmed hats, and dark glasses. They may also have to wear surgical masks, and if visiting the middle east, the most practical clothing resembles a woman's burqa, with 100% coverage.



Sound familiar?

Another auto-immune disease, often associated with vitiligo, is lupus. This devastating condition happens when the body's auto-immune response attacks its own connective tissues, such as nasal and joint cartilage. This is episodic, and can leave the sufferer in agony, with severe joint inflammation so bad they have to be wheeled around in a wheelchair. Chronic cutaneous lupus also attacks the skin, causing lesions which need numerous episodes of plastic surgery to avoid severe disfigurement.



Again, sound familiar?

A typical patient with vitiligo during a lupus flare-up might look something like this:



Since 1986, Mr Jackson had lived a life of increasing pain: unable to tolerate direct or even indirect sunlight, and subject to crippling bouts of agony that required strong painkillers to relieve. Such a situation would prematurely age anyone, making them look more like 70 than 50.

One more thing about lupus - it causes damage to the veins and arteries, causing low density cholesterol plaque to stick and block them. It is very common for lupus sufferers to have asymptomatic heart disease, and suffer sudden cardiac arrest without warning in their 40's and 50's.

Again, all these facts are no secret, just not publicised. It didn't fit the image.