What is albinism?

Posted by John on September 3rd, 2019

Albinism is an inherited illness. It impacts skin and the eyes of some people, and only the eyes of others. In this post we discuss the in's and out's of albinism.

What are the various forms of albinism?

Albinism - both eyes and skin are affected and may present with varying levels of pigment. Some kids have small hair or no pigment in light eyes, skin and vision impairment. Others with pigment might possess serious vision impairment, a few skin color, brown or blue eyes and hair.

Ocular albinism - kids have vision impairment but skin and also the hair are near-normal or normal in color.

How can eyesight affect?

For the two Kinds of albinism, the vision of effects on the child include:

Macular hypoplasia - an abnormality at the retina resulting in clarity of eyesight

Nystagmus - a rhythmical flicker of the eyes

Photophobia - absent or decreased pigment from the iris

Pathway anomalies are also present, especially Issues with depth perception

Albinism causes what issues?

Skin care - most children with albinism are vulnerable to sunburn and skin issues and will require protection, although the consequences of albinism on the kid's skin will be contingent on the quantity of pigment present.

What help do kids with albinism want?

Children with albinism may require some kind of aid, based on the form and degree of the illness. Contact lenses or glasses can fix astigmatism or long or short sightedness.

Kids might require a monocular for distance viewing and some might require a magnifier or large print .

All children with albinism should make use of hats and sunglasses to decrease glare and protect against sunburn.

See also: accessible pdf