Albinism-Jim+T

Albinism **Description: ** Albinism is a rare disease found in the skin and eyes. It is caused by a lack of pigment that should be there at birth, therefore making the skin looking very pale. The eyes will also turn, in some cases, a very deep red or purple in the iris. Though this disease looks very severe, it does not affect the victim much except for appearance. However, with the lack of pigment in the skin, it’s very likely for a person diagnosed with albinism to have skin cancer later on in their life.

**Inheritance: ** Although this disease is very rare, it is inherited from a parent with a recessive allele for albinism. It is inherited at birth, always, and occurs when either parent with a genetically recessive allele passes it down to a newborn. What can also occur, is when both parents with recessive albinism alleles pass it down which in that case, becomes more likely to obtain the disease. Another very rare occurrence is when someone is diagnosed with albinism from parents with no recessive alleles. This is done by having at least one of them being a carrier.

**Symptoms: ** There are many symptoms that are a part of this disease. Most of them will take place in the eyes. Results of these will make them start feeling photophobia and decreased visual acuity. It can also reduce visual acuity to a point where they start damaging the light-induced retinal. Some other eye conditions include irregular rapid movement of the eyes going back and forth or constantly moving in a circular motion.

**Daily Life: ** A person with albinism generally has a normal life except for a few things. For one, their eyes will be a lot different. It will be harder for the victim to see due to the lack of pigment. It results to poor eyesight and long and close ranged sight. In addition to the eyes, the skin is also different. It will be a lot lighter compared to normal skin and has a possibility of skin cancer. But other than glances from other curious eyes, these are mostly all that matter.

**Diagnosis: ** The disease is rather not diagnosed, but inherited at birth. This is done by having a parent with a recessive allele pass it down to their child. What can also be done is to have both parents pass it down to their child. A rarer occurrence is to have no parents with recessive alleles pass it down by having one as a carrier.

**Treatment: ** As there is no cure for this disease, people have found out many treatments. The most common treatment for this disease is eye therapy. Other people also have eye surgery in order to decrease the nystagmus. Glasses will also aid a victim of albinism but will never cure it completely. If a person with albinism has used glasses since a very early age, that person’s eyes will be significantly better than one who hasn’t used them.

**Research: ** Many researchers show that doctors have been searching for a cure on albinism. It also shows that people who use glasses will further have more use of their eyes. More research shows that use of rehabilitation and surgery will also help a victim of albinism.

**Additional Facts: ** <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">People with albinism will most likely have other problems other than the initial disease. For the skin, you will need a lot of protection from the sun. Also, it occurs more commonly in animaks than it does in humans.

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