Albinos Are Misconstrued: 13 Interesting Facts About Albinism You Should Know

Albinism is a genetic disorder that is inherited from at least one parent. The medical condition which is Affecting 1 in every 17,000 people, is characterized by the lack of an essential pigment called melanin, which lends colour to the skin, eyes and the hair. Although it creates changes in a person’s appearance, albinism doesn’t have any negative health effects in majority of cases. People with albinism are just as normal as anyone else, but just have skin and hair colours that are unusually light. There are so many myths surrounding the condition and just so a lot of people are clear on the issue, we bring you 13 interesting facts about it…

– Although albinism is one of the safest genetic disorders that someone can have, it does have the ability to cause certain problems. The most common issue is one that affects eyesight, which is called ocular albinism. Certain types of the ocular version of albinism are passed from mother to son and can be serious enough to cause legal blindness. Even if malfunctions are not present, the lack of pigmentation in the eye creates a great sensitivity to light and an abnormal development of the retina.

– The physical appearance of the people with albinism is totally different with normal people. They usually have blue or gray eyes. In rare cases, their eyes are pink or red.

– The people who live with albinism should concern more with the health of their eyes. Most people with albinism have a low vision. They need to use contact or glass to correct the low vision.

– The people with albinism do not have any pigmentation which can protect their skin from the hot sunlight.

– There is a strange and wrong belief in Zimbabwe that a man with HIV AIDS has to have s*x with a woman with albinism if he wants to be cured. This strange belief has led many HIV infections because the HIV men tend to r*pe the women with albinism.

– Not only human, there are some famous animals with albinism. You can see a gorilla called as Snowflake, the coast Australian humpback whale named Migaloo, a Moach man-hood sperm whale, a Bristol zoo penguin named Snowdrop, and Louisiana’s pink dolphin.

– The word albinism is gained from the Latin work Albus. In English albums means white. Most people with albinism have white skin color because their skin is lack of melanin.

– The first observers of Albinism were Aulus Gellius and Plinius Secundus. The oldest record of this skin disorder was on Rome and Germany.

– Albinism is not contagious. It cannot be transferred from person to person through blood transfusion, dermal contact, or via vector (pathogen carrying organism as mosquito carries malaria)

– Albinism is a health condition that doesn’t get worse or aggravated over the time; and doesn’t exhibit any changes to the life expectancy of an individual.

– Albinism is an untreatable condition since the root cause of this disease is present at the genetic level. However, eye and skin problems arising as a result of albinism can be treated by the correct approach.

– The severity of albinism differs from individual to individual and even among siblings.

– Albinism typically occurs when one of a child’s parents sends the genes along during the life creation process. It is entirely possible, however, for two parents to have a child with albinism even if there isn’t a history of the disorder in the family structure on either side thanks to gene mutations.

If you didn’t know, well now you do!!!