Why did Michael Jackson's skin become pale?

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Jin314159
How did Michael Jackson's skin on his entire body get so pale? What sort of procedure can one do to change one's skin color? Also, has anyone seen Michael Jackon's children? They're also quite pale. Did they get this procedure done as well?
 

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From what I've been told and contrary to popular belief, Michael Jackson did not make his skin white because he didn't want to be black. He sufferred from a medical condition called vitiligo which apparently can only be treated by making the entire skin white.

Vetiligo: "An autoimmune skin disorder caused by attack of the immune system on the pigment-producing cells within the skin. The loss of the cells responsible for skin color result in milky white patches on the skin surface"

I believe that he opted to have all of his skin white rather than have white patches here and there.
 
http://itsb.ucsf.edu/~vcr/Freeze2.html
 
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Crumbles, I've heard the same thing, though with celebrity rumors, it's always difficult to really know the full truth. When I heard about the vitiligo, my suspicion was that it was the reason behind Michael Jackson's signature glove on one hand. It probably started to appear on his hand and prompted him to don a glove to hide it.

I don't actually know what his children look like, I've never seen them pictured without veils of some sort covering them. If they are light-skinned, that likely is because their mother has light skin, combined with keeping them covered so completely when outside, which would keep them from getting tanned at all.

I really don't know how Michael Jackson has gone about getting his skin lighter. If you find out somewhere what was used, perhaps we can figure out how it works.
 
Benoquin

Some seem to think that he used a prescription drug called Benoquin to get rid of all dark that was left of his skin so he would have uniform skin colour. (How true it all is, I can't tell!) If you click here http://itsb.ucsf.edu/~vcr/Freeze2.html and scroll down to a post by David Finkelstein, it says:

"Benoquin is a prescription bleaching agent that is used for severe cases of vitiligo where there is little remaining normal pigment. Over the course of months, this topical cream will gradually and permanently remove the pigment from the skin. It was not available for several months in the U.S.A., but has recently become available again. Because of the permanent nature of the treatment, much thought should be given by the patient and dermatologist before beginning use of Benoquin. --Vail Reese, MD"
 
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Crumbles said:
Vetiligo: "An autoimmune skin disorder caused by attack of the immune system on the pigment-producing cells within the skin.
Actually:
Clinical evaluation of a large patient group does not support the autoimmune hypothesis in vitiligo as the primary event. (Schallreuter et al, Dermatology (1994) 188: 269-275).

This page quotes scientific references on the disease http://www.avrf.org/REPLACEMENT_PAGES/treatmentsPage1.html

Apparently vitiligo patients accumulate H2O2 (hydrogenperoxide) in their skin, which bleaches the pigment.

The extend of discoloration can be extensive and follows characteristic patterns, as can be seen here http://www.makeupdni.com/images/vitiligoba.jpg
 
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