People have varying skin tones—some have very fair complexions, others are pale, and some are black. Similarly, you will also notice that people across the globe all have different shades of eye color—brown, black, blue, gray, and unique hair colors.

What makes our appearances so different from each other?

The human body contains a coloring pigment called melanin, which gives our eyes, skin, and hair their unique color.

Some people are born with a startlingly fair complexion, blue eyes, and light-colored hair. As alluring as it may sometimes look, this happens due to an underlying condition called Albinism.

Albinism is a group of inherited disorders characterized by an absence of the coloring pigment, melanin.

In Albinism disorders, specific genes responsible for the production of melanin in our body undergo abnormal changes. These abnormal changes may have either of two results: in some cases, the body produces an insufficient amount of pigment, and at other times it produces no pigment.   

There are several different types of Albinism, each caused by the mutation of specific genes.

The two most common types of Albinism are:

• Ocular Albinism 
• Oculocutaneous Albinism  

Of the two types, Oculocutaneous Albinism (OCA) is easily recognizable and is the most common type of Albinism. It affects the hair, skin, and eyes of a person.

Oculocutaneous Albinism has a global prevalence of 1 in 20,000 people.

The second type, Ocular Albinism (OA), is a rare form of Albinism disorder that almost exclusively affects males. It mainly affects a person’s eyes and has been reported to occur in 1 in 20,000 males.

Moving forward, we will discuss in detail why Ocular Albinism occurs, its causes, common signs and symptoms of Ocular Albinism, and the possible Ocular Albinism treatment options.

It is characterized by an absence of coloring pigment, specifically in the eyes, leading to poor vision and other problems in eyesight.

The gene mutation that causes Ocular Albinism leads to the abnormal development of structures within the eye. This includes the iris (colored tissue in the center of the eye) and the retina (responsible for processing visual information and transferring it to the brain). 

When the iris and retina are not developed properly, it results in a number of visual difficulties, such as blurry and unclear vision, as well as poor near and far vision.

It may also cause involuntary movement of the eyes and make you sensitive to bright lights. 

The visual deficits in Ocular Albinism are present at birth and become more evident as the baby grows up. However, these albinism eye problems do not worsen; they may sometimes improve with time.

As Ocular albinism mainly affects the eyes and visual ability, people who have this condition appear to have normal skin and hair but have a significant visual impairment.

In different variants of Ocular Albinism, the coloring pigment ‘melanin’  is either insufficient or completely absent, which is why people tend to have light blue or green-colored eyes.

Some people may even appear to have red or pinkish eyes. It is usually because tiny blood vessels in the eyes show through the light-colored irises, making the eyes look pink in color.

Babies born with this condition grow up to be healthy adults except for having Ocular Albinism vision problems. An early symptom includes involuntary movements of the eyes (nystagmus) from side to side or up and down, which is why a child with Ocular Albinism may develop the habit of keeping their heads tilted at an angle to stabilize their vision.

Depending on the specific gene mutation that causes it, Ocular Albinism has two types;

Ocular Albinism type 1, also known as Nettleship-Falls, is the most common type and affects about 1 in 60,000 men every year. It is caused by abnormal changes in the GPR143 gene, which is an X-linked gene, thus making OA type 1 an X-linked recessive disorder

The prevalence of Ocular Albinism in females is rare. In simpler terms, an X-linked disorder typically only affects males, whereas a female remains unaffected even if she inherits a mutated gene from either parent.

Ocular Albinism type 2 is also known as Forsius–Eriksson syndrome. It is a very rare condition that results from the mutation of the CACNA1F gene. OA-2 affects 1 in 1 million men worldwide. The symptoms of Ocular Albinism type 2 are quite similar to those of Ocular Albinism type 1, except that it also causes night blindness and color blindness.

While you may wish that something as simple as lifestyle changes and food options could help save your vision from getting affected by Ocular Albinism, it is unfortunately not the case.

Given that it is caused by a genetic mutation, Ocular Albinism cannot be prevented. It is an inherited (genetic) condition rather than an illness. But you can protect your children from inheriting it. Gene testing and genetic counseling can determine if a fetus may inherit albinism.

For someone affected by Albinism disorder, genetic counseling is a method to prevent passing down the abnormal genes to one’s own children.

A genetics specialist who has specialized knowledge of how gene mutations develop. Through genetic counseling, which is a formal consultation, they can provide recommendations regarding who the disorder may be more likely to affect through genetic counseling.

A genetic counselor may begin by gathering information about your family's medical history as well as your personal history of allergies and genetic eye diseases. This can help you figure out who in your family has the mutated gene for Ocular Albinism and whether your children are at risk of inheriting it.

This knowledge enables you to make informed decisions for your family’s health and well-being.

Ocular Albinism is a genetic eye disease that cannot yet be cured entirely.

But that does not automatically mean that people with this disorder cannot lead happy and healthy lives.

Various albinism treatments can help manage symptoms of Ocular Albinism, such as eye exercises and medication that improve visual clarity and help gain focus.

Minor eye surgeries help control involuntary eye movements and low vision aids for enhanced vision and independent living.

The leading low vision aids, IrisVision Inspire, was created with people who have ocular albinism in mind.

With efficient features and settings that can be adjusted to fit individual needs, IrisVision electronic glasses have helped thousands of people with low vision see better.

IrisVision Inspire are lightweight electronic glasses that have been FDA-approved as class 1 medical devices. It allows people with low vision to detect objects and faces easily, overcome poor night vision, see in high color contrasts with increased clarity, and also helps people become more mobile and independent as they learn to use IrisVision to carry out their routine activities.

Here’s a detailed rundown of the different modes of IrisVision electronic glasses and how they help improve Ocular Albinism vision. 

IrisVision’s scene mode offers a unique way of viewing objects. The bubble view lets you magnify an object up to 14x, but what’s remarkable is its ability to keep the bigger picture in perspective while zooming in on a single point.

The bubble view is an ideal antidote to near and farsightedness in Ocular Albinism; it helps you get a clear and vivid picture of everything around you.

Scene mode can be effectively used for taking a clear look at things like a medicine prescription, a book’s title on the rack, or an object lying at a distance.

Considering how albinism vision can often strip you of entertainment options, IrisVision electronic glasses offer a ‘television mode’ that streams your favorite Netflix shows or anything else you may fancy watching.

You can think of it as your personal TV screen that lets you watch the same content as an average TV, but the picture is tailored according to your visual needs.

With the television mode of IrisVision, you can enjoy entertaining shows as well as anyone and not miss out on anything!

People with Ocular Albinism struggle with blurred or unclear vision. While this cannot be entirely fixed, switching to IrisVision’s bioptic mode may still help you gain focus on specific areas in your view.

Bioptic mode lets you select specific sections of your surroundings and enlarges them in a separate window.

This characteristic can be beneficial in picking out books from a book rack or finding a jar from the kitchen cabinet.

Having difficulty with clear and stable vision can make you feel frustrated while trying to read. To help you overcome this difficulty, IrisVision’s reading mode shows texts against colored backgrounds. You can choose from a number of contrast options and stick to whichever allows you to see the best.

People with Ocular Albinism have photosensitive eyes, meaning they cannot tolerate bright lights and experience discomfort in brightly lit places. IrisVision lets you adjust the brightness levels according to your comfort. This allows you to see in real-time, but only with modified brightness settings, whether indoors or outdoors.

For people with Albinism vision, reading can be an ordeal. In some instances, it can be so troublesome that you may want to skip it altogether. For times like these, when you want to skim across words almost effortlessly, OCR proves to be an excellent problem solver. 

Optical Character Recognition (OCR) is IrisVision’s feature that reads aloud any text you focus on in a loud and clear voice, thus saving you the trouble of deciphering the sentences on your own.

This provision makes reading incredibly convenient; whether you’re trying to read bills, e-mails, prescriptions, or food labels, you can switch to this feature for easy understanding.

IrisVision’s image gallery allows you to take snapshots and save them for later viewing. You can take a picture of a loved one or save a recipe page that you may want to use at a later time.

A considerable portion of global information is presented through visual media like newspapers, magazines, user manuals, video content, sign boards, billboards, brochures, etc.

For this reason, low vision can often create more than just visual difficulties for a person. The inaccessibility of all these knowledge sources can leave you feeling cut off from your surroundings, thus cultivating loneliness and a sense of being left out.

Low vision aids like IrisVision recognize this and offer device features that can help the low vision community stay in touch with the world around them and lead a healthy, independent life.

With this in mind, the IrisVision video player is yet another fantastic feature that allows you to keep up with your interests and make the most of your free time. It has a voice-enabled search linked with Google that browses the web according to your voice commands. With IrisVision’s video mode, you can also stream popular entertainment sites such as Netflix and YouTube.