A disease characterized by a congenital absence of pigment in the skin, its appendages, the iris and pigment membranes of the eyes, is commonly called albinism. The color of body tissues depends on a special substance - melanin, for the normal synthesis of which the enzyme tyronase is necessary. When this enzyme is absent, there is no pigment. and hair in albinos from birth. Albinos are no exception. In most cases, convergent strabismus and a decrease are observed. There are no effective methods of treating the disease. Patients are advised not to expose themselves to sunlight, and when going outside, use light-protective means: tinted lenses, sunglasses, filters. It is not difficult to maintain the health of people with such a pathology, but this little black albino (photo below) has practically no chance of living to his fortieth birthday.
Scientists cannot answer the question of why in Tanzania and other East African states, albinos are born times more than the average on the planet. The black albino is very vulnerable, because, no matter how wild it may sound, he is the object of a real hunt. “Classic blacks” chop them into pieces, and then eat them like a medicine.
According to ancient belief, albino flesh has healing properties. Local sorcerers and healers even treat AIDS, prescribing dried genitals of a “transparent” relative as a healing drug. The killings of white-skinned blacks are large-scale. There is evidence that since 2006, 71 albino blacks have died at the hands of hunters, and more than 30 have managed to escape from the killers. Excitement of hunters is quite understandable: the flesh of an albino, sold in parts, brings in income, estimated at a very decent amount: from 50 to 100 thousand dollars.
Until recently, cannibals managed to evade responsibility. The kidnapped and murdered black albino was declared "missing", and the authorities did not attempt to search for him and punish the criminals. However, the brutal practices in Tanzania caused and continue to cause outrage in the West, so the authorities had to deal with the punishment of hunters for people. Relatively recently, in 2009, three men were sentenced to death for capturing and hacking to pieces a 14-year-old white-skinned youth. It was the first trial of cannibals that forced them to change tactics. From now on, a captured Negro albino has a chance to stay alive, although he is badly crippled - without arms and legs. Human hunters have switched to cutting off the limbs of albinos, which, if caught, threatens them with 5 to 8 years in prison for grievous bodily harm.
Here are a few more figures of sad statistics. 90 albinos over the past 3 years have been deprived of limbs, three of them died from their injuries. The reason that only 2% of Tanzanian blacks with a diagnosis of albinism survive to the age of 40 is not only their extermination for the sake of eating. In conditions of poverty, it is difficult to ensure the preservation of vision, which albinos who have barely achieved lose 60-80%. The probability of getting skin cancer for an albino at the age of 30 is 60%. Residents of one of the poorest countries on the planet, born with a diagnosis of albinism, need support from the civilized world community.
Albinos already have a difficult life, and even more so in Africa. Over the past year, only in Tanzania, 26 people were killed, devoid of pigmentation from birth, mostly women and children. Local sorcerers buy their corpses, blood and internal organs, making supposedly magic drinks based on them that can bring wealth, because in Tanzania albinos are considered a symbol of happiness and prosperity.
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What is Albinism?
From (lat. albus, "white") - congenital absence of pigment in the skin, hair, iris and pigment membranes of the eye. There are complete and partial albinism. Currently, it is believed that the cause of the disease is the absence (or blockade) of the tyrosinase enzyme, which is necessary for the normal synthesis of melanin, a special substance on which the color of tissues depends.
Bloody Tanzania
In Africa, the killing of albinos has become an industry where the majority of the population can neither read nor write and generally consider it an absolutely unnecessary activity, and even more so they do not understand medical nuances.
But there are various superstitions here. The inhabitants believe that a black albino brings misfortune to the village. The dismembered organs of albinos go for a lot of money to buyers from "I want to see" the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Kenya and Uganda. People blindly believe that the legs, genitals, eyes and hair of people with albinism bestow special strength and health. The killers are driven not only by pagan beliefs, but also by a greed for profit - an albino hand costs 2 million Tanzanian shillings, which is about 1.2 thousand dollars. For Africans, this is just crazy money!
Only recently in Tanzania more than 50 people were killed, differing from their compatriots in skin color. They were not just killed, they were taken apart for organs, and the organs of albino blacks are sold to shamans. It so happened that those who hunt albino blacks do not care whom to kill: a man, a woman or a child. The product is scarce and expensive. Having killed one such victim, the hunter can live comfortably, by African standards, for a couple of years.
Eduardo was born and raised in a fishing village on Lake Tanganyika. He was the fifth child in an ordinary family of Tanzanian fishermen who forage for food in the lake waters. He himself, like his parents, brothers and sisters, was a typical Tanzanian - dark-skinned with black curly hair.
When the time came, he married a neighbor, a pretty black woman, Maria, whom he looked at as a teenager. The young settled in a separate hut. Eduardo adored his wife and was in seventh heaven when she became pregnant.
The family idyll ended as soon as Eduardo looked at the newborn - a white-skinned girl with a whitish fluff on her head. The husband, in a rage, showered his wife with a hail of reproaches, accusing her of all mortal sins: she supposedly got in touch with evil spirits, a family curse weighs on her, and the gods sent her “Zera” (“ghost” in the local dialect) as punishment. On top of the scandal, Eduardo severely beat Maria and kicked her out of the house with the child, depriving her of any help and support.
The unfortunate woman was not accepted by her parents either. Only her 70-year-old grandfather, who lived in a squalid shack on the outskirts of the village, took pity on her.
Mary had a hard time. The villagers shied away from her as from the plague. She somehow earned a living for herself and her daughter Louise by hard daily work, and the whole day the little girl remained under the supervision of her grandfather.
When Louise was in her eighth month, Eduardo broke into the hut with three accomplices. Everyone was heavily drunk. Before the eyes of the grandfather, dumbfounded with horror, they cut the girl's throat, drained her blood into a wineskin, tore out her tongue, cut off her arms and legs...
Further dismemberment was prevented by the terrible cry of Mary, who had returned from work. The woman lost consciousness. And the criminals, grabbing a waterskin with blood and cut off parts of the body, rushed away.
Louise's remains were buried right there, in a hut, so that other albino hunters would not encroach on her bones.
Africa is hell for "colorless"
Unfortunately, this tragedy is typical for the countries of South-East Africa. There is an abnormally high percentage albinos- people with a congenital lack of pigment in the skin, hair and iris. If in Europe and North America there is one albino per 20 thousand people, then in Tanzania this ratio is 1:1400, in Kenya and Burundi - 1:5000.
It is believed that this disease is caused by a genetic defect leading to the absence (or blockade) of the tyrosinase enzyme necessary for the normal synthesis of melanin, a special substance on which the color of tissues depends. In addition, scientists argue that an albino child can only be born when both parents have the gene for this disorder.
In Tanzania and other East African countries, albinos are outcasts and are forced to marry only among themselves. This could be considered the main reason for the high proportion of albinos among the local population, because white children usually appear in such families.
However, they are often born in families where there has not been a single albino in the whole chain of generations. So science throws up its hands in impotence to explain the reason for such a high percentage of albinism in these territories.
Africa is a living hell for albinos. The burning rays of the tropical sun are detrimental to them. Their skin and eyes are especially susceptible to ultraviolet radiation, they are practically not protected from it, and therefore, by the age of 16-18, albinos lose their eyesight by 60-80%, and by the age of 30, they have a 60% chance of getting skin cancer. 90% of these people do not live to be 50 years old. And in addition to all the misfortunes, a real hunt has been declared for them.
Crime and Punishment
What did their white-skinned brethren not please the black Africans? Not knowing the true nature of this genetic abnormality, the locals, most of whom can neither read nor write, explain the appearance of an albino child as a birth curse, corruption, or God's punishment for the sins of their parents.
For example, the natives believe that only an evil spirit can be the father of such a child. One of the albinos says so:
I am not from the human world. I am part of the spirit world.
According to another version that exists in African society, albinos are born because their parents had sex during the period when the woman was menstruating, or on the full moon, or it happened in broad daylight, which is strictly prohibited by local rules.
And therefore, some village sorcerers, who still enjoy great prestige among the population, consider albinos cursed, carrying the evil of the other world, and therefore subject to destruction. Others, on the contrary, argue that the flesh of albinos is healing, there is something in their blood and hair that brings wealth, power and happiness.
And therefore healers and sorcerers pay big money to albino hunters. They know that if you sell the victim's body in parts - tongue, eyes, limbs, etc. - you can earn up to 100 thousand dollars. This is what the average Tanzanian earns in 25-50 years. Therefore, it is not surprising that the "colorless" are mercilessly exterminated.
Since 2006, about a hundred albinos have died in Tanzania. They were killed, dismembered and sold to sorcerers.
Until recently, hunting for albinos was almost not punished - the system of mutual responsibility led to the fact that the community basically declared them "missing". This gave rise to a sense of impunity in the hunters, and they behaved like real bloodthirsty savages.
So, in Burundi, they broke into the clay hut of the widow Genorose Nizigiyimana. The hunters grabbed her six-year-old son and dragged her out into the street.
Right in the yard, having shot the boy, the hunters skinned him in front of his hysterical mother. Having taken the "most valuable": tongue, penis, arms and legs, the bandits left the mutilated corpse of the child and disappeared. None of the locals helped the mother, since almost everyone considered her cursed.
Sometimes the killing of the victim occurs with the consent of relatives. So, Salma, the mother of a seven-year-old girl, was ordered by her family to dress her daughter in black and leave her alone in the hut. The woman, without suspecting anything, did as she was told. But I decided to hide and see what happens next.
A few hours later, unknown men entered the hut. With a machete, they cut off the girl's legs. Then they cut her throat, poured the blood into a vessel and drank it.
The list of such atrocities is very long. But the Western public, outraged by the brutal practices in Tanzania, forced the local authorities to take up the search and punishment of cannibals.
In 2009, the first trial of albino killers took place in Tanzania. Three men killed a 14-year-old teenager and cut him into pieces to sell to the sorcerers. The court sentenced the villains to death by hanging.
Eduardo, whose crime was described at the beginning of this article, was subjected to the same punishment. His accomplices were sentenced to life imprisonment.
After several such ships, the hunters became more inventive. They stopped killing albinos, but only cripple them by cutting off their limbs. Now, even if the criminals are caught, they will be able to avoid the death penalty, and will receive only 5-8 years for grievous bodily harm. Over the past three years, almost a hundred albinos have had their arms or legs cut off, and three have died as a result of such “operations”.
The African Albino Relief Fund, funded by Europeans, the Red Cross Society and other Western public organizations are trying to provide all possible assistance to these unfortunate people. They are placed in special boarding schools, they are given medicines, sunscreens, dark glasses...
In these institutions, behind high walls and under reliable guard, the "colorless" are isolated from the dangers of the outside world. But in Tanzania alone, there are about 370,000 albinos. You can't hide everyone in boarding schools.
Nikolay VALENTINOV, magazine "Secrets of the XX century" №13, 2017
In the modern world, there are 3 races: Mongoloid, Negroid and Caucasoid. They differ from each other in physical characteristics: facial features, skin color, eye shape, hair shape and color.
The Negroid race is divided into 2 branches - Australian and African. This article will talk about what the Negroid race is, what nationalities belong to it, distinctive features and mixed types of races.
What are races
In ordinary language, races are groups of people who differ from each other in physical features.
Do you know what many anthropologists consider: Georgians are the most beautiful representatives of Caucasians? Well, of course, each of us knows that people of different races fall in love with each other and, as a result, mixed-race children are born from such a marriage. For example, the mixing of the Negroid and Caucasian races leads to the fact that children are born, whom we call mulattoes. And if a baby is born in a Negroid and Mongoloid marriage, then it is called sambo. Children from such mixed marriages around the world are recognized as the most beautiful. These kids are called mestizos. As a rule, they have regular facial features, a beautiful body, healthy teeth and hair, and most importantly, excellent physical condition.
australoids
As mentioned at the beginning of the article, the Negroid race is divided into 2 groups - Negroids and Australoids. Negroids will be considered a little later. Here we are talking about Australoids.
Representatives of this type are the inhabitants of Australia. Signs of this type of Negroid race: dark skin and hair color, large teeth, wavy or curly hair, short neck, tall stature. Sometimes Austroloids are considered a separate race, but many still combine them with Negroids.
To date, the Australoid race is divided into the following types: Australian, Vedoid, Andaman, Ainu, Polynesian. There was another type, but, unfortunately, it ceased to exist in the 19th century. Another type that is now threatened with extinction is the Ainu type.
It follows that representatives of the Negroid race live not only in Africa.
The Australoid race makes up only 0.3% of the total world population. These include tribes - Negritos, Ainu and Vedas.
Negroid race types
Everyone knows that the main part of Africa is inhabited by the Negroid race. But few people know that among themselves its representatives differ in skin color (darker or slightly lighter), height and thickness of the lips. Modern anthropologists have attributed the inhabitants of Egypt and Libya to the Caucasoid race. The fact is that most of the inhabitants of North Africa have fair skin, blue, sometimes gray eyes, and some representatives have light brown hair. You can also meet a blond Libyan walking down the street.
All races of people, including the Negroid, are also divided into subtypes: Sudanese (representatives of this type are classic Negroids), East, South and North African, Ethiopian.
Eddie Murphy, Mike Tyson, Wesley Snipes - these celebrities are representatives of the classic type of Negroid.
When people are asked about what they know about the signs of the Negroid race, everyone unanimously repeats - a dark skin pigment. The second most popular answer is plump lips. Why did nature reward them with lips, which many of the fair sex aspire to?
The appearance of a representative of any race is adapted to the climatic conditions of the area where he lives. The Negroid race was originally formed in Africa, Oceania, South Asia and Australia. And it is their appearance that clearly shows us how they have adapted to the climate of their habitat over the centuries.
1. Hard and curly hair, more like a hat, protect them from solar radiation.
2. Dark skin color is a sign that they have a high melanin content. It is he who saves them from ultraviolet radiation.
3. Wide nostrils are needed so that they have good heat dissipation during breathing.
4. And finally, the lips. The plumper the lips, the larger the size of the mucous membrane. It is through it that excess moisture evaporates.
In the world, 16.6% of the population belong to the Negroid race. These include the population of Africa, Central America, Brazil, tribes - Pygmies, Bushmen and Hottentots.
Negroid race. Photos of representatives
This talented and famous representative of the Negroid race is known to the whole world.
Here is such an interesting Negroid race! Photos of the following representatives show how beautiful children are born from mixing blood with representatives of other races.
Negroid albino
Who are albinos? These are people whose body, for various reasons, cannot produce melanin, which is responsible for skin pigmentation. Such people can never tan, only redness occurs. Often, under the influence of ultraviolet radiation, they develop serious diseases. Albinos also live in Africa, but, unfortunately, due to climatic conditions in their third decade of life, they are diagnosed with cancer.
Many albino Negroids do not know why they were born this way. The fact is that in African countries it is considered bad manners to find out about this. And often such questions are considered a great disrespect to parents. Therefore, such topics are prohibited here. For religious reasons, albinism is considered to be predestination, which means that it was God's will. Albino children are not supposed to know more and you just need to live with it.
As taboo as this topic may be, African people have found an original answer. Some of them believe that during the conception of a child, a woman had a menstruation, or love joys were in the phase of the full moon, and the most original explanation: “The conception took place in broad daylight”!
When journalists asked this question to an African albino, the child replied that he was not part of the human world, he belonged to the world of spirits.
Whatever the cause of albinism in the Negroid race, such people will always face various kinds of prejudice. They are not always negative. Many shamans believe that in the blood and hair of such unusual children there are substances that attract good luck and wealth. There is an opinion that albinos are very smart. But most African people believe that such people attract misfortune. Well, everyone will have their own opinion. As people say: "How many people, so many opinions."
Rare people who stand out from the crowd attract attention. Someone is afraid of them because they are guided by the safety instinct. And someone is interested in their features. Albinos are not like other people, which makes their rejection a punishment and a gift at the same time. Especially this phenomenon is clearly manifested by its signs in blacks (black albino) ..
Who is an albino? This is a person who has a deviation that is clearly evident. His body is completely devoid of melanin - the pigment that gives the iris of the eyes, skin and hair a certain color. Depending on the amount of this pigment, the color becomes pale or dark. In a healthy person, melanin may be contained in small quantities. However, you can increase its production by spending some time in the sun, when vitamin D is produced.
The main cause of albinism is hereditary predisposition, when the body does not produce enough melanin. This is due to the inactivation of tyrosinase.
This disease is not something new. It was still known in Ancient Rome and Greece. It is noted that this deviation is observed not only in humans, but also in animals. White tigers, white spiders, white pandas, white wolves, etc. Scientists do not call albinism a disease. Rather, it is a deviation from the norm, which does not prevent the rest of the body's functions from working at full capacity.
The living organism continues to be healthy and strong. There are simply some recommendations that should be followed by those who have albinism.
Albinism occurs on average in 1 case per 20,000 people. This figure fluctuates in different regions. It is noteworthy that albino parents can be absolutely healthy: they have pigmentation of the skin, hair and eyes.
Parents should be more humane towards their albino children. Their children will have to become objects of ridicule and misunderstanding. To resist external pressure, one should be strong in spirit and psyche. If parents support their "unusual" child, then it is easier for him to cope with other people's ridicule.
Causes of albinism
Albinism means "white" in Latin. The main reason for the appearance of albino people is the lack of pigment, which is responsible for the color of the skin, hair and eyes. We are talking about the absence of melanin, which in Greek means "black".
Albinism develops from birth. It is a consequence of the absence of the enzyme tyrosinase in the body. At the same time, the parents themselves can be absolutely healthy. However, in their genes there is a predisposition to this deviation. They themselves do not get sick, but are carriers. If both parents are carriers, then the children are bound to be born albinos.
In a healthy person, melanin is observed in different amounts. The more pigment, the darker the skin and hair color. The complete absence of melanin indicates the absence of pigmentation in the skin, hair and eyes. Doctors check the cause of the anomaly. If the problem is not the absence of the tyrosinase enzyme, then it is noted in gene mutations. This provokes the absence of another enzyme important for the synthesis of melanin - the enzyme.
There are several types of albinism. This affects how much melanin will not be present in the body, as well as what additional deviations will be observed. Why the production of enzymes is blocked is still unknown to science. However, this leads not only to a lack of color, but also to skin diseases, vision problems and neurological disorders.
The following diseases and disorders are noted:
- Skin cancer.
- Psychosis.
- Cataract.
- Depression.
- Neurosis.
- Sun burns.
Doctors note that children are born with albinos, in the genes of whose parents there were mutation sites. Both parents must have genetic abnormalities. If only one parent has an anomaly, then the child can be born healthy, but he will become a carrier of the mutational gene, which, when meeting with another partner's gene, will finally lead to albinism. This is called autosomal recessive inheritance.
People are wary of albinos because they do not fully understand this disease. It is impossible to catch albinism, transmit it by airborne droplets, through touch and other contacts. No matter how much you rub and kiss an albino, you will never become a white person. Albinos people are born and from childhood have distinctive features.
Signs of albinism
Albinos are quite easy to recognize - they have white skin, hair, red eyes. Doctors note that they have additional diseases associated with vision: astigmatism, myopia, nystagmus, hyperopia. What are the symptoms of albinism?
- The skin has a pale pink color. Capillaries are visible through it.
- Hair is brittle and soft. They are white or yellow in color.
- visual problems. It is difficult to concentrate, follow, control the movement of the eyes. The depth of visual perception is reduced, and photophobia develops.
- The skin cannot tan because there is no melanin. This leads to sunburn, and in the absence of sunscreen and prolonged exposure to the sun, skin cancer develops.
- The eyes are red due to the lack of pigment that would cover the capillaries. This is a consequence of horizontal nystagmus and photophobia.
Albinism manifests itself in various forms. Common are:
- Oculocutaneous, which is expressed in white skin and hair, which persists for life. In a milder form, this disease manifests itself in a white color that becomes dark over the years, which is associated with aging.
- Ocular, which manifests itself less often than oculocutaneous. The pigment is absent only in the iris, while the hair and skin have color. Often there are various problems with vision.
Albinism is also divided into 3 types:
- Partial. Inherent are pigmentation or brown spots on the face, abdomen, legs, hair with gray strands.
- Total. Inherent are dry skin, hypertrichosis, hypotrichosis, actinic cheilitis, epithelioma, impaired sweating, keratoma, sunburn.
- Incomplete. Inherent are hypopigmentation of the hair, skin, and iris.
Albino people have the following vision problems:
- Weak eyesight.
- Strabismus.
- Cataract.
- Oligophrenia.
- Microphthalmia.
- Nystagmus.
- Immunodeficiency.
Due to the lack of melanin in the skin, albinos quickly burn out in the sun. This forces them to use sunscreen. By the way, albino animals also have to be protected with special creams so that they do not get sick. Lack of sun protection leads to skin cancer, which is why albinos suffer the most.
Vision in albinos is poor, especially during the daytime. They have daytime photophobia. As for the night, they can see very well, capturing any glare.
Red eyes in albinos are most common in animals. Although people can have red eyes when there is no pigment that sets off the capillaries.
In terms of health and ability to reproduce, albinos are no different from healthy counterparts. They can only pass on mutational genes, and everything functions just like other people.
Negro albino
Albinos exist in all countries. However, if you take Africa, then the number of albinos will be much larger. The albino Negro is not a rare occurrence, rather because people are forced to build marriages with albinos. The standard of living and the economy of many countries in Africa is low, people are not provided with assistance, so the conditions force people to give birth to a large number of children with anomalies.
The albino Negro faces two main problems in life:
- The ignorance of others, because of which he encounters ridicule and misunderstanding from others.
- Harmful ultraviolet that leads to skin cancer. You have to sit at home during the day or use sunscreen to protect your skin.
The albino Negro has the following symptoms of an anomaly:
- The hair is yellow that stays that way forever or darkens slightly with age.
- The skin is white.
- The eyes are grey-blue.
- Pigmented spots on the skin.
This forces the black albinos to fight for their own lives. Someone moves to countries where they will not be significantly different from other people. Someone is holding demonstrations, defending their rights.
The life of albinos is full of danger. Almost all their lives they are faced with a lack of understanding of the environment. By the age of 18, they can lose their sight, and by the age of 30, they can develop skin cancer. All this is supported by various beliefs of ignorant people who, out of their own fear, believe that albinos bring misfortune.
Lifespan
Albinos have a short lifespan. The hotter the country in which a person lives, the greater the risk of cancer. At the same time, the prognosis becomes disappointing, since the skin is not able to produce melanin, which would protect the skin from the development of cancer, as well as imperfect medicine, which is not able to cure cancer.
The life of albinos is complicated by misunderstanding on the part of others. When people do not understand, they are afraid, often rejecting those who are not like them. However, albinos first of all have parents who should become the main protectors and friends of their children. It is necessary to instill self-confidence so that albinos are more comfortable defending themselves from ignorant people.
There is no cure for albinism. However, in order to prevent the development of this disease, one should first undergo genetic and medical consultations with a partner with whom there is a desire to have a child, so that the combination of two mutational genes does not coincide.
