# Albinism



## Somélle (Feb 19, 2018)

I am in the process of writing a book (surprise surprise) and I have a bit of an issue. Back when I planned the character designs with the help of a friend, who knows how to draw, we made our main twin protagonists albinos. Now, I could change the traits but now I can't see them any other way. Besides I managed to do it so it'll be important to the plot
I have searched for info as to how being an albino affects you, but some of it I don't really understand, or seems contradictory (for example, a website talked about albinos only having red eyes due to a lack of pigmentation, another said they could have grey blue, even brown eyes)
Could you guys help me?


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## pmmg (Feb 19, 2018)

I would think you could find out a lot about this using google. In general, Albinism, being a lack of pigmentation, can be somewhere between a lack of it, to no pigmentation at all. Some Albino's do have red eyes. They are not in fact red, but rather the lack of color allows us to see the color of the retina behind them. Many Albino's have enough pigmentation to have some eye color.

I cant say as I know a lot of about Albino's, but I know they have trouble with sunlight and burning easily, and they tend to have additional vision problems, such as an inability to keep their eyes focused. Moorcock, in writing Elric, also showed him as being listless and weak, which was attributed to his albinism, but I am not sure if that is a true symptom of not. I could also imagine they may have some other side effects, such as some lack of immunity to disease if pigmentation was to play a role in that.

I would suggest doing some research on google.


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## Dark Squiggle (Feb 19, 2018)

Albinos have red or pink eyes. The ones with colored eyes are leucistic.
Leucism - Wikipedia
Albinism - Wikipedia


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## CupofJoe (Feb 19, 2018)

Dark Squiggle said:


> Albinos have red or pink eyes. The ones with colored eyes are leucistic.
> Leucism - Wikipedia
> Albinism - Wikipedia


I'm not sure that that is 100%. 
Leucism "is caused by a reduction in multiple types of pigment, not just melanin." 
While Albinism is "characterized by the complete or partial absence of pigment in the skin, hair and eyes."
Both can have levels of reduction and not absent or normal levels...
I know that for some in the world it is a very bad thing to be Albino as it can be seen as a mark of witchcraft and lead to their being ostracised, beaten and even killed for the most strange and unusual reasons...


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## Night Gardener (Mar 4, 2018)

Hmmm.... Try perusing the web for albinism support forums for some insight?  There's online medical support and advocacy groups for virtually everything these days (which is wonderful for everybody). I've found that web forums that are meant to be informative for [new] parents are especially helpful. Most are open to non-members to read [some] member postings. Usually, if it is a closed group the main articles and FAQ section are open to the public; and their online directories are very informative. Check out as many as you can if you're trying to research for medical facts vs. personal experiences,  and note the online resources that correlate to specific medical publications/ studies. 

Also, you'll probably want to "browse incognito" on your web browesr settings... or your pc will be clogged with pharmaceutical advertisements for weeks. Good luck!


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## CupofJoe (Mar 4, 2018)

Night Gardener said:


> Also, you'll probably want to "browse incognito" on your web browesr settings... or your pc will be clogged with pharmaceutical advertisements for weeks. Good luck!


I think that advice applies to much of the research a writer can find themselves doing. I hate to think about some of the lists I must be on from years of "research"...


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## Alora pendrak (May 7, 2018)

i had some of the same issue's i'd suggest maybe trying to find the blogs of albino people. Sometimes people who have the condition often explain it better then people who study it. I  learned a lot from utube videos where people with Albinoism talked about he issues they faced and the things they had to do. So maybe go on utube and type in Albinoism see what comes up. Hope that helps.


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