Color blindness is not a kind of blindness at all, but a deficiency in the method you see color. With this vision issue, you have problem differentiating certain colors, such as blue and yellow or red and green.
Color blindness (or, more accurately, color vision deficiency) is an acquired condition that impacts males more regularly than women. Inning accordance with Prevent Blindness America, an approximated 8 percent of males and less than 1 percent of women have color vision problems.
Red-green color deficiency is the most typical type of color blindness.
Much more hardly ever, a person may acquire a trait that decreases the ability to see blue and yellow colors. This blue-yellow color deficiency usually affects males and females similarly.
Color Blindness Symptoms And Signs
Do you have trouble telling if colors are blue and yellow, or red and green? Do other individuals sometimes inform you that the color you believe you are seeing is incorrect?
If so, these are primary signs that you have a color vision deficiency.
Contrary to popular belief, it is uncommon for a color blind person to see only in shades of gray.
Most people who are considered “color blind” can see colors, however certain colors appear washed out and are easily puzzled with other colors, depending upon the type of color vision deficiency they have.
If you develop color vision issues when typically you have had the ability to see a full range of color, then you absolutely ought to visit your doctor. Abrupt or gradual loss of color vision can suggest any number of underlying health problems, such as cataracts.
Color blindness screening can assist identify the type of color shortage you have.
What Causes Color Blindness?
Color blindness takes place when light-sensitive cells in the retina cannot react appropriately to variations in wavelengths of light that enable people to see an array of colors.
Photoreceptors in the retina are called rods and cones. Rods are more plentiful (there are approximately 100 million rods in the human retina) and they are more conscious light, however rods are incapable of perceiving color.
The 6 to 7 million cones in the human retina are responsible for color vision, and these photoreceptors are focused in the central zone of the retina called the macula.
The center of the macula is called the fovea, and this tiny (0.3 mm diameter) area contains the greatest concentration of cones in the retina and is responsible for our most acute color vision.
Acquired forms of color blindness often belong to shortages in certain types of cones or outright absence of these cones.
So, who does color blindness affect? Besides distinctions in hereditary makeup, other causes of color vision defects or loss consist of:
- Parkinson’s disease (PD). Because Parkinson’s disease is a neurological disorder, light-sensitive nerve cells in the retina where vision processing happens may be damaged and can not operate correctly.
- Cataracts. Clouding of the eye’s natural lens that occurs with cataracts can “rinse” color vision, making it much less brilliant. Fortunately, cataract surgery can restore intense color vision when the cloudy natural lens is gotten rid of and changed with an artificial intraocular lens.
- Tiagabine for epilepsy. An antiepileptic drug referred to as tiagabine has actually been shown to decrease color vision in about 41 percent of those taking the drug, although effects do not seem irreversible.
- Leber’s genetic optic neuropathy (LHON). Especially prevalent among males, this kind of acquired optic neuropathy can impact even carriers who do not have other symptoms however do have a degree of color blindness. Red-green color vision flaws mostly are kept in mind with this condition.
- Kallman’s syndrome. This inherited condition involves failure of the pituitary gland, which can lead to insufficient or uncommon gender-related development such as of sexual organs. Color blindness can be one symptom of this condition.
Color blindness also can take place when aging processes damage retinal cells. An injury or damage to areas of the brain where vision processing happens also can cause color vision shortages.
Color Blindness Treatment
Gene therapy has actually cured color blindness in monkeys, according to study results revealed in September 2009 by scientists at the University of Washington and University of Florida.
While early findings look appealing, gene therapy would not be thought about for human beings until treatments are proven to be safe.
On the other hand, there is no treatment for color blindness. But some coping strategies might help you function much better in a color-oriented world.
Many people are able to adjust to color vision shortages without too much trouble. However some professions, such as graphic style and professions that require handling different colors of electrical circuitry, depend on precise color understanding.
If you become conscious of a color shortage early enough in life, you may have the ability to compensate by training for among the lots of professions that are not as based on the ability to see in a full variety of colors.
Identifying color vision shortage early also might prevent finding out problems during academic year, especially since many learning products rely greatly on color understanding. If your child has a color deficiency, make certain to talk with his or her teachers about it, so they can prepare their lessons and discussions accordingly.
Lenses For Color Blindness
Some people use special lenses to improve color perception, which are filters available in either contact lens or spectacles lens type. These types of lenses are offered from a restricted variety of eye care practitioners in the United States and other countries.
If your regular optometrist does not handle these types of lenses, request for a referral so that you can look for someone who may be able to assist you.
You also can learn methods to work around your inability to pick out certain colors. For instance, you might arrange and label your clothes to avoid color clashes. (Ask pals or family members to help!).
And you might keep in mind products by their order instead of their color. An example would be to recognize that the traffic signal is at the top of the traffic signal, and green is at the bottom.
Make sure you see your eye care practitioner for extra guidance if you have trouble identifying colors or if you have observed this difficulty in your child.