Do people regularly warn you that your
clothes don’t match even when they seem fine to you? Are you regularly
frustrated by your inability to distinguish hues and shades that others can
clearly see? If so, then you might be colorblind. Colorblindness is the inability to distinguish
colors in a normal fashion. Approximately 1 in 8 males are colorblind as
compared to less than 1 in 100 females. The most severe form of colorblindness
is achromatopsia (or monochromacy), which is the inability to see any color. Unilateral
dichromacy means a person has one normal eye and the other is colorblind.
The symptoms of red-green and blue-yellow
colorblindness may be so mild that affected people are unaware they are
colorblind unless specifically tested. Parents may notice colorblindness in a
more severely affected child at the time the child would normally learn colors.
Several color vision tests are available through an eye specialist
(ophthalmologist). Colorblindness is a life-long condition. Colorblindness may
exclude people from some jobs such as being a pilot, a police officer, or a firefighter
where color vision is essential.
Colorblindness occurs when light-sensitive
cells in the retina fail to respond
appropriately to variations in wavelengths of light that enable people to see
an array of colors. People have three types of cones in their eyes that can see
light colors. In normal vision, all three works together to ensure a full range
of hues that can be detected. People with colorblindness have problems with one
or more of the cone types, which reduces their sensitivity to red, green, blue,
orange, brown, purple, or yellow.
Though colorblindness has no cure, some
people use special lenses to enhance color perception. There are filters
available in either contact or eyeglass lens form. The tinted lenses in
colorblind glasses include patented light-filtering technology to give people
with common forms of colorblindness the ability to see the broad spectrum of
bright colors most people take for granted.
The culprit for colorblindness is typically
genetics. A gene located on the X-chromosomes can cause the colorblindness
trait to pass from parent to child. Some people develop colorblindness as they
age. Other causes of color vision defects or loss include:
·
Cataracts-Clouding of the eye's
natural lens
that occurs with cataracts can wash out color vision, making it much less
bright. Cataract surgery can restore bright color vision when the cloudy
natural lens is removed and replaced with an artificial intraocular
lens.
·
Certain medications-For
example, an anti-seizure drug called Tiagabine has been shown to reduce color
vision in about 41 percent of those taking the drug although effects do not
appear to be permanent.
·
Kallman's syndrome-This
inherited condition involves failure of the pituitary gland, which can lead to
incomplete or unusual gender-related development such as of sexual organs.
Colorblindness can be one symptom of this condition.
·
Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON)-This
type of inherited optic
neuropathy can affect even carriers who don't have other
symptoms, but do have a degree of colorblindness. Red-green color vision
defects primarily are noted with this condition.
·
Parkinson's disease (PD)-Because
Parkinson's disease is a neurological disorder, light-sensitive nerve cells in
the retina where vision processing occurs may be damaged and cannot function
properly.
Here are interesting colorblindness facts that
you may not know:
·
A Colblindor is a colorblind person who has
learned to enjoy his colorblind life.
·
A fatal railway accident in Sweden in
1875 that killed nine people was believed to be caused by a colorblind rail
operator who failed to properly read a signal. After the crash, a method to
test color vision was developed and applied to railroad workers.
·
Babies are born colorblind. As they
grow, their color vision improves and is typically fully developed by the age
of 6 months.
·
Because colorblind people have a hard
time distinguishing between green and yellow, they often have a hard time
knowing when a banana is ripe.
·
Colorblindness is also called Daltonism
after the scientist John Dalton, who was colorblind. He wrote the first paper
on colorblindness in 1794.
·
Colorblindness is hereditary, and is
passed from mother to son on the 23rd chromosome.
·
Dogs, cats, and rabbits see mostly gray.
Monkeys have strong color vision while bees and butterflies have superior
vision and can see colors humans can’t see.
·
Facebook
is blue because its founder, Mark Zuckerberg, suffers from red-green
colorblindness.
·
In Romania, people who are colorblind
are not allowed to obtain a driver’s license.
·
In World War II, colorblind men were
considered to have an advantage since their inability to see green helped them
to see through camouflage. Today, the military will not allow people to serve
if they are colorblind.
·
It’s estimated that there are 300
million colorblind people in the world.
·
Peacocks are known for their colorful
plume of feathers that are dazzling to humans. However, what’s most important
to peacocks is the number of eye-shaped marks on the ends of the feathers.
Peacocks see these eyes in ultraviolet light. The more eyes a male peacock has.
The more attractive it is as a mate.
·
People who suffer from red green
colorblindness have a difficult time determining if their meat is cooked
enough. Without being able to see different shades of red, it is hard to tell.
·
Strongly colorblind people might only be
able to tell about 20
hues apart from each other with normal color vision this number
raises to more than 100 different hues.
·
The Ishihara colorblind test was
invented by Dr. Shinobu Ishihara in 1916 while he held a military position in
the Japanese Army. The test was originally developed exclusively for use by the
Japanese Army, but became more widespread in 1917.
·
The mantis shrimp has 12 types of cone
cells. 4 times as many as humans. Scientists aren’t sure why they have such a
complex visual system. It is known that this shrimp can see infrared and
ultraviolet light.
·
To a colorblind person, the green light
on a stoplight may appear white or even blue while the red and yellow lights
may look similar to each other.
·
To the normally sighted person, a
rainbow features all the colors of the rainbow. For many colorblind people, a
rainbow only appears to have 2 or 3 colors, blue and yellow.
“Without black, no color has any depth.” (Amy Grant) [i]
[i] Sources used:
·
“25 Facts about Color Blindness” by Kevin Mulligan
·
“50 Facts about Color Blindness” by Colblindor
·
“Am I Colorblind?” by colormax.org
·
“Color blindness: Types of Color Blindness” By Gretchyn Bailey
·
“Colorblindness Facts” by colormax.org
·
“Medical Definition of Colorblindness” by: William
C. Shiel Jr.
This post was inspired
by the colorblind make-up artist, Leigh Easthope, on the Netflix series, Glow Up: Britain's Next Best Make-up Star.
 |
| Leigh Easthope |
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