Albinism means you have a melanin disorder that causes pigmentation and eye problems. Melanin is what gives your skin, hair and eyes their color and it is also an important component during eye development. With albinism, you’ll produce or distribute little or no melanin.
Albinism is an inherited disorder and is typed based on which genes are mutated. And there are several genes which provide the chemical code for the proteins involved in melanin’s production.
Those with this pigmentation problem are referred to as an albino. Most are highly sensitive to the sun, as it may only take a few minutes of exposure to cause their skin to burn. As such, sun protection is a must because albinos are more prone to skin cancer.
All forms of albinism cause problems with eye function and depending on the type you may also have problems with:
Also, you may only have localized albinism wherein your pigmentation problem is not all over, only in patches.
Albinism causes a variety of symptoms, like:
- light hair
- strabismus
- nystagmus
- photophobia
- astigmatism
- very light skin
- sun sensitivity
- translucent eyes
- freckles, lentigines
- patchy skin pigmentation
- moles ~ with or without pigment
- functional blindness caused by extreme myopia or hyperopia eye problems
There’s no cure for albinism, but there are treatments to improve your vision and sun protective measures you should take. You’ll likely need to wear glasses and these can be tinted to provide sun protective treatment for photophobia.
Some of the other sun protective treatments recommends are:
- avoid going out in the sun mid day
- regularly apply sunscreen with a SPF of at least 30
- be extra vigilant about sun exposure while at high altitudes or during thin cloudy days
- wear long-sleeved shirts, long pants, broad-rimmed hats & dark, UV blocking sunglasses, sun protective clothing
In some cases, eye muscle surgery can correct nystagmus. And to ensure that the sun hasn’t caused any problems, albinos should have their skin examined annually.