"It don't matter if you're black or white"

When Oprah Winfrey interviewed Michael Jackson on 10 February 1993 she asked what millions wondered, why did his skin turn white?

Jackson’s passionate response was that he had a skin disorder that could have been inherited from his father Joe Jackson’s genes.

Jackson’s dermatologist, Dr Arnold King confirmed that the singer suffers from a rare disease that affects one to two percent of the world’s population.

“It is not contagious and is a result of the loss of pigment producing cells of the skin” he said.

Michael Jackson was first diagnosed with the skin disease in 1986 and tells Oprah he recalls the change happening after producing Thriller.

Jackson claimed to use light make up to even the white patches and present an even tone to continue his work.

Other sources claim Jackson bleaches his skin to which he strongly opposed.

Other dermatologists said vitiligo (pronounced vit-ill-eye-go) can cause a person to lose pigment in patches of all over the body, making a black person’s skin turn white.

According to the British Medical Journal, the word comes from the Latin term "vitellus" which means "spotted calf" and this describes the condition exactly.

It is a common skin complaint, affecting approximately 500 000 people in Britain alone, with cosmetically and psychologically devastating effects.

On average a GP will have 10 sufferers on his or her list.

It is thought to be due to an interaction of genetic, environmental, and immune factors, which contribute to the destruction of melanocytes in the dermis.

At the moment there is no cure for vitiligo but there are treatments which can often slow down its progress or, in some cases, bring about repigmentation.