Albinism affects people from all races, even people with dark skin and animals. One out of 17,000 people in the United States have albinism. Most children with albinism have parents with normal hair and eye color for their ethnic backgrounds.

Albinism is a collection of conditions. Pigment is what gives your hair, eyes and skin their color. People with albinism have little or none of a pigment called melanin. This causes them to have very light skin and hair. They can have red eyes, but they usually have blue eyes. They can even have hazel or brown eyes. People with albinism have different sets of conditions. Some people do not even know that they have it. All people with albinism have some vision problems. Many times their eye doctor will be the one to discover this.

People with albinism have trouble with bright light, astigmatism, jerky eye movement, and eyes that do not work together as a team. Their eyesight can not always be corrected with glasses.

People with albinism have a normal life span, but an increased risk of skin cancer and blindness. Because many people with albinism look different, they often have a problem with how other people react to them and may have their feelings hurt. There are several causes and types of albinism.

Type 1 is caused by a defect in a chemical which interacts with tyrosine. Tyrosine is a chemical that your body needs to make melanin.

Type 2 albinism is due to a defect in the "P" gene that effects the retina in the eye.

Oculocutaneous albinism is the most severe and inherited. People with this have the least amount of color.

Albinism of just the eyes can also occur. This is called ocular albinism and can be inherited. With this type of albinism, the person's skin color is usually normal and eye color may be in the normal range. However, examination of the eye will show that there is no pigment in the retina.

Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome is an inherited form of albinism that is also a bleeding, lung and bowel disorder.

Bianca "Bee" Has a wonderful website to help people understand Albinism. Bianca was in the August 2005 issue of the Teen Magazine called "SUGAR" in the UK .  She is a part of an article and photo shoot, entitled "WE ARE  BEAUTIFUL" with a section on albinism. 

Bianca's Forum

Source: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001479.htm || www. albinism .org/