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Albinism

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Submitted By rileyonetwo
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Signs/Symptoms

Symptoms of albinism can involve the skin, hair, and eyes.

The skin, because it contains little pigment, appears very light, as does the hair.

Although people with albinism may experience a variety of eye problems, one of the myths about albinism is that it causes people to have pink or red eyes. In fact, people with albinism can have irises varying from light gray or blue to brown.

People with albinism may have one or more of the following eye problems:

-They may be very far-sighted or near-sighted, and may have other defects in the curvature of the lens of the eye (astigmatism) that cause images to appear unfocused.
They may have a constant, involuntary movement of the eyeball called nystagmus.
-They may have problems in coordinating the eyes in fixing and tracking objects (strabismus), which may lead to an appearance of having "crossed eyes" at times. Strabismus may cause some problems with depth perception, especially at close distances.
-They may be very sensitive to light (photophobia) because their irises allow "stray" light to enter their eyes.

It's a common misconception that people with albinism shouldn't go out on sunny days, but wearing sunglasses can make it possible to go outside quite comfortably.

Age/Gender/Race Pre-dispositions

Race

All races appear to be equally affected by the associated mutations. However, oculocutaneous (albinism type 2) is reportedly more common among Africans and African Americans (1 case per 10,000 population) than in Caucasians (1 case per 36,000 population).

Sex

The incidence of these albino diseases is equal for men and women.

Age

All of these diseases present in neonates. Chediak-Higashi syndrome consists of an accelerated phase that occurs years to decades after birth.

Albinism is a skin disorder that is from the result of a defect in the production of pigment (melanin) due to dysfunction of pigment cells (melanocytes) in the skin, the eyes, and/or the ears.

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