FACTS ABOUT ALBINISM WE MIGHT WANT TO BE AWARE OF
Added on: 13th Dec 2016
ALBINISM IS A CONGENITAL (EXISTING AT OR BEFORE
BIRTH) DISORDER CAUSED BY REDUCED OR THE
COMPLETE ABSENCE OF MELANIN: THE PIGMENT
RESPONSIBLE FOR GIVING COLOUR TO OUR SKIN,
EYES AND HAIR. ALBINISM IS SOMETIMES
KNOWN AS HYPOPIGMENTATION
PEOPLE WITH ALBINISM CAN LIVE LONG, HEALTHY
LIVES JUST AS ANYONE ELSE. THE BIGGEST DANGER
COMES FROM SKIN CANCER WHICH DEVELOPS MORE
EASILY FROM UNPROTECTED SUN EXPOSURE
WHILE IT'S COMMONLY THOUGHT PEOPLE WITH
ALBINISM HAVE PINK OR RED EYES, THEIR IRISES
VARY IN COLOUR FROM LIGHT GREY TO BLUE
(MOST COMMON) AND EVEN BROWN. THE REDDISH
COLOUR COMES FROM LIGHT REFLECTED OFF THE
BACK OF THE EYE, IN THE SAME WAY AS A CAMERA
FLASH SOMETIMES PRODUCE IMAGES WITH RED EYE
PEOPLE WITH ALBINISM OFTEN HAVE ONE OR A
FEW EYE CONDITIONS, INCLUDING POOR EYESIGHT,
INVOLUNTARY EYE MOVEMENTS (NYSTAGMUS)
AND SENSITIVITY TO LIGHT (PHOTOPHOBIA)
HERMAN MELVILLE'S FAMOUS BOOK "MOBY DICK"
IS BASED ON A REAL WHALE WITH ALBINISM
KNOWN AS MOCHA DICK. THE "WHITE WHALE
OF THE PACIFIC", MOCHA DICK WAS A
DESTRUCTIVE SPERM WHALE LIVING NEAR
MOCHA ISLAND OFF SOUTHERN CHILE WHO
SURVIVED COUNTLESS ATTACKS FROM
WHALERS AND RETALIATED FIERCELY
WHEN ATTACKED
THE CAUSE OF ALBINISM IS CELLULAR.
MALFUNCTIONING GENES DON'T PRODUCE
MELANIN AND CANNOT BE MADE TO
THOUGH THE DISORDER IS FOUND IN ABOUT
1 IN 20,000 PEOPLE IN THE UNITED STATES, ITS
PREVALENCE IS HIGHER FOR OTHER PARTS OF
THE WORLD WHERE IT CAN BE AS HIGH AS
1 IN EVERY 3,000 PEOPLE IN SOME PARTS OF AFRICA
PEOPLE WITH ALBINISM SYNTHESIZE VITAMIN D
FIVE TIMES FASTER THAN DARK-SKINNED
PEOPLE. SINCE VITAMIN D IS PRODUCED WHEN
ULTRAVIOLET-B LIGHT ENTERS THE SKIN,
THE LACK OF PIGMENTATION MEANS THE
LIGHT CAN ENTER MORE EASILY
THOUGH ALBINISM DOES NOT REQUIRE TREATMENT,
THE SKIN AND EYE CONDITIONS WHICH ACCOMPANY
IT OFTEN DO NEED SPECIALIZED TREATMENT
Comment on this