Albinism comes from the Latin word albus, meaning “white”. It is a hypopigmentary congenital disorder, characterized by a partial lack of melanin pigment in the eyes, skin and hair, and very rarely, in the eyes alone. The eyes, however, appear pink or red because the blood vessels in the iris and retina reflect light, whereas in normally coloured individuals they are hidden by pigment. Albino people have very defective vision and their eyes are extremely sensitive to light. The skin is very white and never tans, so that sunburn is much more serious than in ordinary blondes.

Albinism is hereditary; it is not an infectious disease and cannot be transmitted through, blood transfusions and contact for instance. The principal gene, which results in albinism, prevents the body from making the usual amounts of the pigment melanin. Most forms of albinism are the result of the biological inheritance of genetically recessive alleles (genes) passed from both parents of an individual, though some uncommon forms are inherited from only one parent.

However, because organisms can be carriers of genes for albinism without exhibiting any traits, two non-albinistic parents can produce albinistic offspring. Albinism generally occurs with the same frequency in both genders. An exception to this is optical albinism, because it is passed on to offspring through X-linked inheritance. Thus, males more frequently have ocular albinism as they do not have a second X chromosome.

There are two main categories of albinism in humans:

• In oculocutaneous albinism (despite its Latin-derived name meaning “eye-and-skin” albinism), pigment is lacking in the eyes, skin and hair. People with oculocutaneous albinism can have anywhere from no pigment at all to almost-normal levels.

• In ocular albinism, only the eyes lack pigment. People who have ocular albinism have generally normal skin and hair colour, and many even have a normal eye appearance.

As mentioned before, in physical terms, albinos usually have vision problems and need sun protection. Nevertheless, they also have to face, very often, social and cultural challenges because of their ‘special’ human condition that frequently cause them a source of ridicule, discrimination, or even fear and violence. Cultures around the world have developed many beliefs concerning people with albinism. This folklore ranges from harmless myth to dangerous superstitions that cost human lives. Furthermore, brutal discrimination almost always happens in less developed countries where the general scientific knowledge of such occurrences are not widespread and superstition takes hold. It is also more frequent in countries where the skin colour varies from people with albinism the most likely because they are more easily differentiated from the general population. Portrayals of people with albinism in literature and films have historically rarely been positive. This fact is sometimes referred to as the “evil albino” stereotype, or albino bias from other people, although one must recognize them as normal human being with physical problems as other have differently perhaps.
These pictures have been taken mainly in Argentina, Spain, United Kingdom.

Paola de Grenet

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