Did you know that 8% of men and 1 in 200 women are color blind?
Color Blindness does not necessarily mean that someone cannot see colors and can only see black and white. In most cases, patients see color, but they have difficulty distinguishing between different kinds of colors. The majority of the time, color blindness is inherited. Some conditions, such as ocular disorders, can also cause color blindness, which is an acquired condition.
Symptoms
Different types of color blindness exist, but the most common is red and green deficiency. Therefore, you will have trouble distinguishing between different shades of red and green. You may begin to perceive something as one color, but others around you will correct you. Also, colors appear washed out, making it difficult to distinguish between them. So, if you ever experience any of these symptoms, you should visit your eye doctor so that they can determine whether or not you have colorblindness deficiencies.
Types of color blindness
Achromatopsia can cause almost total color blindness leading to the patient only seeing the world in shades of gray.
Red color blindness makes it hard for a person to see the difference between red and dark green as well as blue from mauve and purple. Some people with red color blindness may see greens as yellow, purples as blue, and blue as a shade of white.
Green color blindness makes it hard to tell the difference between light green and dark red (green may also be seen as gray), purple and turquoise, and mauve and gray.
The main symptoms are an inability to distinguish between light green and dark red, purple and turquoise, and mauve and gray.
Blue and yellow color blindness makes it difficult to tell the difference between blue and yellow.
What jobs do not allow people who are color blind?
While color blindness may not seem to be such a major condition, studies show that 2 out of 3 people who are color blind feel that it is a handicap. In some cases color blindness may also prevent someone from doing a job that they love. For example the following professions may limit or entirely restrict people who are color blind:
- Pilots
- Police officers
- Military
- Medicine
- Industrial Engineers
- Electrician
- Artists
- Chef
- Fire fighters
- Florists
- Some universities will restrict entry to specific majors for color blind people for example chemistry, geology, and pharmacy
Causes
The following factors can cause color blindness:
- A disease that affects the optic nerve - the nerve that connects the back of the eye to the brain
- An eye stroke caused by blocked arteries of the eye
- Various eye diseases such as cataracts and macular degeneration
- Some medications
- Various toxic chemicals
A doctor would use a set of books with different colored plates on them to determine the type of color vision deficiency you may have and whether you are colorblind.
Can color blindness be treated?
Genetic color blindness cannot be treated, however there are options to correct color blindness and improve a person's ability to discern colors and experience our colorful world more fully. Depending on the type of color vision deficiency you have, enchroma color vision glasses may work for you because there is a filter in these glasses. It also blocks out and negates certain wavelengths of light that are easily confused by patients with red-green color blindness. However, they don't really work for everyone. You can try it, since you may be one of the patients that start seeing more vibrant colors, and there will be an increase in contrast when viewing them.
In addition there are contact lenses that are relatively new to the market that may assist a person with color blindness. For example X-chrom contacts do not allow a person to see colors but do allow people to more easily tell the difference between colors that they may not have been able to see a difference between prior to wearing the lenses.
If you suddenly developed color blindness or you've always seen colors normally, but then you start noticing a decrease in the contrast or the vibrancy of these colors, then it may indicate that you have an ocular disease. This could be caused by an optic nerve disease, a stroke inside the eye, or other conditions like cataracts or macular degeneration which will reduce the contrast in certain colors. Some medications or various toxic chemicals could also lead to this problem. Hence, if you experience any color vision problems, you need to see your eye doctor as soon as possible so they can determine the root of the cause and treat it.
