Do albino people have poor eyesight?

[Wolverine Lake]

It is said that albino people usually have poor eyesight, is that true? What causes that to happen?

[Wolf Bayou]

The answer is yes. Albino people have poor eyesight because that their optic nerve fibers cross over inside the brain in an improper way. However, whether albino people suffer from poor eyesight largely depends on the condition of albinism. If the albinism is mild, their eyesight will be fine. If it is severe, there will be problem in their eyesight. Also, their lack of important pigment and proteins which are indispensable for normal eye function can also make their vision abnormal. Besides malformation of optic nerve in the brain, they are likely to suffer from strabismus (cross eye), nystagmus (eye jerking), retinal depigmentation, iridoplegia (iris paralysis) and myopia etc. Most people with albinism are extremely sensitive to bright sunlight. Actually, many albino people are legally blind.

[Witts Springs]

Yes, generally speaking, albino people usually have the photophoby, tearing, nystagmus, astigmatism, and so on. This is because their eyes lack the melanin, thus there are no pigments in the retina of their eyes. Without pigments, their iris and pupil will present in the color of light pink or light blue. Their pupils usually are in a shrinking state, so their view is very narrow, and their ability to recept the light is wear, which directly leads to lack of stimulus in the retina. That is why people who have albino usually have very poor vision.