Wednesday 4 July 2012

Albinism and Some Key Facts

Albinism also known as achromia, is an eye disorder which has complete or partial absence of pigment in the skin, eyes and sometimes hair. This is due to the absence of enzyme that is involved in the production of melanin. Albinism generally occurs due to the inheritance of recessive gene allies and also affects vertebrates of humans. An organism where there is complete absence of melanin is known as albino while an organism where there is diminished amount of melanin is described as albinoid. Albinism leads to a number of vision defects like photophobia, nystagmus and astigmatism. Albinism can occur from lack of skin pigmentation which makes the organism sunburn and cancerous. Albinism can be classified into 2 categories, they are as follows:

In oculocutaneous albinism the pigment is lacking in the eyes, hair and skin. People with oculocutaneous albinism do not have pigment in normal levels for a rather pale Caucasian.

In ocular albinism only the eye portion does not have any pigment. People who are having ocular albinism, they have normal skin and hair colour but they are quite lighter than either parent.

Most albinism appeared to be white or very pale in human face as the melanin pigments are responsible for brown, black, and yellowish colour in your face, and due to albinism it remains absent. Individuals having albinism have skins that are partially or sometimes entirely lack the dark pigment melanin that helps to protect the skin form the ultraviolet rays from the sun. People having albinism skins have a tendency that their skin burns very quickly from over exposure. The albinisms are generally as healthy as the rest of the population as the growth and development occurs normally. The albinism does not cause mortality although the absence of pigmentation is responsible for blocking the ultraviolet rays and increases the risk of skin cancer and various other problems.

It is the presence of melanin that leads to the development of optical system and the reduction of pigment in albinism in individual which may lead to reduction of visual acuity due to foveal hypoplasia. It may also lead to photophobia and reduction of visual acuity which occurs due to the scattering within the eye. It may also lead to abnormal decussation of the optic nerve fibres if the retinogeniculate projections get misrouted. Some eye problems that are common and occur during albinism are as follows:

Nystagmus is an irregular and rapid movement of the eyes which goes in a circular motion.

Amblyopia reduces in acuity to both the eyes and sometimes one even due to poor transmission to the brain.

Some of the visual problems which are associated with albinism generally arise from a poorly developed retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) because of absence of melanin. This degenerate RPE are responsible for causing foveal hypoplasia that resulted into excentric fixation and reduced visual acuity. Eventually the improper development of RPE which in normal eyes absorbs most of the ultraviolet rays and increase the glare scattered within the eye.

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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6777394

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