Treating Albinism

Treatment

Albinism has no cure and treatments for albinism focus on treating the symptoms and preventative care to avoid complications such as skin cancer 13. Visual problems in those with albinism can be corrected with prescription lenses, and surgery can be done to help with nystagmus and strabismus 13. Yearly visits to the dermatologist is also necessary to monitor for the formation of any skin cancers 13.

Promising Treatments

Gene therapy has become a popular avenue of research for treatments of genetic disorders. Some recent research has discovered a way to utilize adeno-associated viral vectors to deliver a normal copy of the TYR gene in an attempt to treat OCA1 29. The method has shown to increase tyrosinase activity and therefore melanin synthesis 29.