FACTS ABOUT ALBINISM WE MIGHT WANT TO BE AWARE OF

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