Albinism

Albinism is one of the many genetic diseases affecting people today. In the several genes that produce or distribute melanin, a pigment found in the hair, skin, and iris, there may be a defect. A defect may cause an absence of melanin production, or a reduced amount of melanin production. Albinism is the result of a baby inheriting two of these defective genes, one from the father and one from the mother. The baby must inherit one defective gene from each parent in order to have albinism. The disease is autosomal recessive and is found on chromosome 11. It is usually detected at birth, the symptoms include having lighter skin and eyes, for some people their eyes may seem pink or red. This is due to the lack of pigmentation in their eyes, skin, and hair. Out of the total population, about 1 out of every 17,000 children are carriers for Albinism or have Albinism. Albinism is a lifelong disease, there is no way to cure it, only to treat it. To treat albinism, children must use lots of sunscreen and wear sunglasses because their eyes and skin suffer from light sensitivity, also known as photophobia. Many doctors prescribed glasses to correct vision problems and some children may even get eye surgery. Albinism does not affect a child's lifespan, but a form of albinism, Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome can shorten the lifespan due to lung disease or bleeding problems. For parents, they will have to get used to it, since the albinism is not going to go away. They must make sure that their children stay out of the sun as much as possible and keep going to the doctor for checkups on their vision. Also, there may be complications within the disease that result in decreased vision or blindness and skin cancer. There are three main forms of albinism, the first is called oculocutaneous albinism. About 1 in 20,000 people worldwide have oculocutaneous albinism. This is the most severe form of albinism. Children who experience this form of albinism have white or pink hair, skin, and