Albinism is a rare inherited defect in melanin metabolism. Albinism can affect two things, the skin and eyes which is called oculocutaneous albinism or just the eyes which is ocular albinism. The word "albinism" refers to a group of inherited conditions. People with albinism have little or no pigment in their eyes, skin, or hair. They have inherited genes that do not make the usual amounts of a pigment called melanin. One person in 17,000 in the U.S.A. has some type of albinism. Albinism affects people from all races. Most children with albinism are born to parents who have normal hair and eye color for their ethnic backgrounds. Often people do not recognize that they have albinism. (NOAH).
             Oculocutaneous albinism is from autosomal recessive inheritance; ocular albinism is from an X-linked recessive trait that causes hypopigmentation. In the United States both types of albinism are more common in blacks then in whites, Native Americans have a high incidence of the tyrosine-positive form (1 in 140 to 240). Infants with albinism may behave as if they are not seeing during the first weeks of life and gradually become visually attentive. This is now a well-documented condition. For X-linked inheritance, the gene for albinism is located on an X chromosome. Females have two X chromosomes, while males only have one X and one Y chromosome. This X-linked albinism occurs exclusively in males. The gene is passed from mothers who carry it to their sons. The mothers have subtle eye changes which an ophthalmogist could identigy, but mothers usually have normal vision. For each son born to a mother who carries the gene, there is one in two chance of having X-linked ocular albinism. The description is hereditary deficiency pigmentation. This could involve the entire body or part of the body. This is believed to be caused by an enzyme deficiency involving the metabolism of melanin during prenatal development.
             If a person has albinism then they ...