Reasons for color blindness

If you can not distinguish blue from yellow or red from green, or sometimes other people may correct the color you see, you probably have color blindness. Color blindness is neither a form of blindness nor a full range of color disability. People with color blindness usually lack the ability to see certain colors properly. This is just a form of vision deficiency. Generally speaking, people suffering color blindness can not perceive differences between some of the colors that normal people can differentiate. Genetic nature is the major cause, whereas damage to the eye, nerve or brain may also cause color vision deficiency.

Red-green deficiency and blue-yellow deficiency can be total or partial

There are mainly two ways to classify different cases of color blindness. According to clinical appearance, there are total color blindness and partial color blindness. The first form is much less common. Moreover, red-green deficiency and blue-yellow deficiency are two major types of color blindness based on their clinical appearance. Those two types of color deficiencies have different inheritance traits: red-green deficiency is found only on men and blue-yellow deficiency affects men and women equally. Health problems such as cataract may lead to color blindness. Once you have symptoms or visual difficulties described above, you should go to see a doctor for a color blindness testing, which can determine the exact type.

Color blindness is caused mainly by genetic inheritance

Another way to classify color blindness cases is by cause. There are mainly two types of reasons for color blindness: genetic inheritance and various diseases, all of which affect the way in which the retina’s light-sensitive cells respond to light with different wavelengths. Inherited forms of color blindness are the majority, such as Leber’s hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) and Kallman’s syndrome. LHON is always associated with red-green color defects, while the Kallman’s syndrome involves a failure of the pituitary gland.

Some diseases are possible causes

The cases of color blindness stated above belong to the inherited category. Yet there is also an acquired category of color blindness cases. Disease-caused color blindness only accounts for a small portion. Cataracts can make the lens less bright, which caused color blindness. Intraocular lens (IOL) is usually used as a treatment. Parkinson’s disease (PD) and Tiagabine (an antiepileptic drug) are also reported as possible causes of color blindness.

There is no effective cure for color blindness

A disappointing fact is that color blindness can not be cured, so that many people with acquired color blindness are forced to discard their jobs that require accurate color perception. Those professions include graphic design and electric wiring. Individuals who are diagnosed with color blindness early enough in life will always choose a career that is less dependent on color perception.

How can color blind patients make compensation?

However, there are strategies to make compensation. School-aged children should be given special care in learning if they have color blindness. For example, their teachers can plan particular lessons and presentations that require less color perception. Certain eye care practitioners (ECPs) offer special lenses that can enhance color perception, and they are available in both contacts and eyeglasses. Another way to “recognize” the color of clothes for people with color blindness involves organizing and labeling them. Color disabled individuals should also remember the order of different traffic lights.