Did you know that approximately 1 in 8 men and 1 in 200 women are color blind? Statistically, it is very likely you know several individuals with this condition. Read on to learn all about color deficiency, from the various types of color blindness, to the causes and typical challenges that those with color deficiency face.
Types of Color Vision Deficiencies
A common misconception about color blindness is that people with the disease can’t see any color. While that is true for some individuals, total color deficiency is rare. Most people have red-green or blue-yellow color blindness.
Red-Green
Red-GreenThere are 4 types of red-green color vision deficiency:
- Deuteranomaly is the most common type of red-green color vision deficiency. It makes certain shades of green look more red.
- Protanomaly makes certain shades of red look more green and less bright.
- Protanopia and deuteranopia both make someone unable to tell the difference between red and green at all.
Blue-Yellow
Blue-yellow color blindness is less straightforward than red-green. People with blue-yellow color blindness struggle to see more than just blue and yellow.
There are 2 types of blue-yellow color vision deficiency:
- Tritanomaly makes it hard to tell the difference between blue and green and between yellow and red.
- Tritanopia makes someone unable to tell the difference between blue and green, purple and red, and yellow and pink. It also makes colors look less bright.
Total Color Blindness
Total color blindness, or monochromacy, is very rare. Less than one tenth of a percent of the world’s population has monochromacy.
Monochromacy is the only type of color blindness that is associated with other eye issues. Red-Green and blue-yellow color blindness are not indicative of any other diseases or health concerns. Monochromacy, on the other hand, is often associated with light sensitivity, nystagmus, and nearsightedness.
Patients with monochromacy see everything in shades of gray.
How Does Someone Become Color Blind?
For the majority of individuals, color deficiency is genetic. In rare cases, color vision deficiency can also be caused from diseases like glaucoma, macular degeneration and brain and nervous system diseases (like Alzheimer’s or multiple sclerosis).
How Color Vision Works in Human Eyes
Eyes are complex organs that translate light into electrical signals that travel to the brain. The brain then decodes those signals into images that we see.
Humans have 3 distinct color-sensing cones for red, green, and blue light. By combining these cells’ signals, the brain can distinguish thousands of different colors. If one of the three cones is absent or doesn’t work correctly, then the brain doesn’t get the correct color signal.
Causes of Color Blindness
Genetic
Most people who are color blind inherit the disease from one or both of their parents. Color blindness is a recessive X-linked genetic disorder. This is why men are more likely to be color-blind than women. Men who get the color blind gene from their mothers do not have an opportunity for it to be overridden by their fathers because they will only receive a Y chromosome from them.
A woman has to receive the color blind gene from both of her parents to actually be color blind. Women however, can still be carriers of the defective gene even if they aren’t colorblind themselves.
Acquired
Non-genetic color blindness is not very common, but does happen.
The most common culprit of non-genetic color blindness is a brain or nervous system issue. This will create color blindness on the end receiving the signals instead of the end sending them.
Medication side effects, other diseases, or injuries can also cause color blindness.
In acquired color deficiency, one or both eyes can be affected. This is different from genetic color blindness where both eyes will always have the disease.
Acquired color blindness can sometimes resolve. This isn’t the case for genetic color deficiency.
Symptoms and Diagnosis
Color blindness is relatively easy to diagnose. The symptoms are straightforward and present in everyday life so they are noticed quickly.
Common symptoms of color blindness
It probably isn’t a surprise that the number one symptom of color blindness is not being able to differentiate between various colors.
Many people will find out they are color blind when they are a child. It is common to discover a child is color deficient when they have trouble identifying colors past an age where that is normal.
Diagnosis
An optometrist can perform one of multiple tests to diagnose color blindness. The most common tests are:
- The Ishihara Test
- The Farnsworth-Munsell Test
- The 100 Hue Test
There are free online versions of these tests, but they don’t provide the same expertise and nuance that a trained medical professional does. Online tests are not always accurate. Have an eye doctor perform the test if you believe you might be color-blind.
Importance of early detection
Much of a child’s early educational experience is based around color. Early detection will allow a child to have accommodations in the classroom and at home.
Living with Color Blindness
Color blindness isn’t life threatening, but it is life-altering. There are unique challenges that color vision deficient people experience.
Everyday Challenges
Everyday ChallengesColor deficiency has an impact on someone’s daily life, education, and career choices.
There are seemingly innocuous challenges, such as not being able to match clothing to more dangerous problems, such as not being able to tell if your skin is getting pink or red in the sun.
Common challenges include:
- Reading graphs or charts
- Interpreting color indicator lights on technology
- Reading maps
- Understanding school or work assignments with color
- Cooking meat thoroughly
- Identifying ripe from un-ripe produce
- Matching clothing
Color-blind people also have to give up some career goals. Certain industries and jobs won’t allow a color-blind employee because it is a safety hazard. Some engineering jobs, flying an airplane, and being an electrician are just a few of the options that are out of the question for many color-blind people.
Importance of Routine Eye Exams
Color blindness is a relatively common eye condition that can be diagnosed during a routine eye exam.
Eye exams are an important part of your general wellness routine. If you have vision issues, you should have an exam annually. If you don’t have any vision problems you should still visit an eye doctor every few years to make sure your eyes are healthy.
Schedule an eye exam with one of our optometrists today.
