What is Albinism?

The term Albinism came from the Latin word “albus” meaning white. Albinism is a type of disorder which is characterized by total or partial lack of the pigment named melanin in eyes, hairs and color. As a result the victim is completely white and strange to look at. This disease is not only evident in human beings but also in other type of animals such as in birds, fishes, reptiles and amphibians.

Causes for Albinism

Albinism is a hereditary disease. This disease is neither infectious nor contagious and cannot be transmitted through blood transfusions, contact or any other medium.

People acquire this disease when they inherit from their parent one or more defective gene that are unable to produce the normal pigment melanin for the color of the skin.

Generally the inheritance of this disease of albinism is due to the autosomal recessive gene but in some other cases the gene are linked to X-gene. In most of the cases albinism is caused due to genetically related recessive alleles that are passed from the parents to the offspring. However in at times it is seen that a child may get this disease even though none of his/her parents are albinos. This usually happens when a mutant gene runs in the family.

Albinism Symptoms

In most of the cases the symptoms of Albinism is evident from the very birth of the child. Child with this disease is born no or little normal colors in their eyes, skins and hairs.

Besides these physical symptoms an individual also shows many other symptoms related to this disease like the problems in vision. Apart from that these individuals usually have very sensitive skin and they suffer from sun burn in the skin if they are exposed to intense heat. The level of sunburn that an albino individual suffers is much greater than the level of sunburn which a normal individual would suffer.

Albinism Types

Previously Albinism was classified into two types namely tyrosinase- negative and tyrosinase-positive. When people suffer from tyrosinase positive it indicates that there is the presence of tyrosinase enzyme. However the pigment cell melanocytes fail to produce the pigment cell melanin for any other reasons which do not involve the enzyme tyrosinase. But, in tyrosinase- negative case tyrosinase enzyme is not produced and even if they are produced they are often non-functional. This as a consequence results in the disease.

Modern day researches however have classified albinism into two main categories. The fist category is Oculocutaneous albinism. This implies lack of pigmentation in the eyes, hairs and skin. People suffering from this type of disease can have lack of or no pigmentation in various parts of the body and at the same time they may also have normal pigmentation in some other parts of the body.

Another category of albinism is Ocular albinism. In this type an individual suffer from lack of pigmentation only in eyes. There is only one major type of this ocular albinism but on the other hand oculocutaneous albinism may be classified into several sub types.

Cure for Albinism

There is no complete cure for Albinism. However there are some effective ways to deal with this syndrome. As the people suffering from this disease suffer from sun burn it is often suggested that they avoid the ultra violet lights. Dermatologists also suggest that they should also use some sunscreen lotion. In order to deal with the eye problems one should consult an ophthalmologists and optometrist.

Advices

People suffering from this disease should be dealt sympathetically because they often suffer from inferiority complex due to their abnormal appearance. They should also avoid the UV rays as it may cause harm to their skin and their eyes.