Albinism & The Eye
What is Albinism?
Albinism is a hereditary condition in which a person lacks melanin, the pigment which gives skin and hair their relatively dark colours. Hence, such a person has excessively fair skin, brown to white hair and eyelashes, and very pale iris in the eyes.
Vision challenges in Albinism
Albinism guarantees that there will be visual challenges for the one living with it. This happens because a baby’s eyes develops differently than the norm when there is an absence of melanin pigment.
There are structural differences in the development of their retina (the light-sensitive layer at the back of the eye, and where images are formed), and their optic nerve (the nerve of sight) in its relationship with the brain. These make visual functioning challenging.
The lack of melanin also makes them sensitive to bright lights. Melanin helps to absorb excessive lights and so people living with albinism experience the full glare of lights, often making it difficult to see outdoors during daytime.