Color Blindness OR Color Vision Deficiency?

What is the difference between color blindness and color deficiency?

Color deficiency is the decreased ability to see color or differences in color. For example, for some colorblind people, a dark red ball could be seen as brown, or any purple object could be seen as blue.

Color blindness occurs when someone is unable to see any colors. It is extremely rare to see in black and white – it’s called Achromatopsia (the term "color blindness" is also used to describe color deficiency). Achromatopsia affects an estimated 1 in 30,000 people worldwide.

Color deficiency is very common, 8% of males (1 in 12 boys) and less than 1% of females (1 in 200 girls) are color deficient. There are more than 350 million people worldwide (4.5% of the whole population). In a class of 25, one, and possibly more students, likely will have difficulty distinguishing colors.

What Causes Color Blindness?

Color deficiency is caused by a difference in how one or more of the light-sensitive cells found in the retina of the eye respond to certain colors. It's a genetic condition and an inherited one with several different types that exist due to genetic variation.

WHY COLOR BLINDNESS EXIST IN NATURE?

Color blindness is inherited and is caused by a gene on the “X” chromosome. 2

A male (XY) has one X chromosomes, and always inherited from the mother, while a female (XX) has two X chromosomes, one from the father and one from the mother.

A male with one affected X chromosomes from his mother will be colorblind. A female with only one affected “X” chromosome will not have the condition but may pass the gene to one of her children.

A daughter can only be color blind when both her mother and father are color blind and pass along the gene. This is why color blindness affects more men than women.

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Symptoms of Color Blindness

The symptoms of color blindness can range from mild to severe. Many people have such mild symptoms that they are unaware that they have a color deficiency. Parents may only notice a problem with a child when children begin to learn the different names of colors.

The symptoms of color blindness are:

Inability to tell the difference between shades of the same or similar colors. This happens most with red and green, or blue and yellow.
Seeing green and red as gray/brown.
Using the wrong colors when coloring an object – such as a purple river or red leaves.
Writing or drawing only with one color.

Different types of Color Vision Deficiency

GREEN (DEUTERAN) COLOR BLINDNESS

The green-weak (Deuteranomaly) and green-blind (Deuteranopia) colorblind have problems with any color that has some green in it.

Deutan color blindness is a type of red-green color blindness in which the green cones in the eye detect too much red light and not enough green light. As a result red, yellow, green, and brown can appear similar, especially in low light.

RED (PROTAN) COLOR BLINDNESS

The red-weak (Protanomaly) and Red-blind (Protanopia) colorblind have problems whenever a color has some red in it.

A person with Protan type color blindness tends to see greens, yellows, oranges, reds, and browns as being more similar shades of color than normal, especially in low light.

A common problem is that purple colors look more like blue.

BLUE (TRITAN) COLOR BLINDNESS

The blue-weak (Tritanomaly) and blue-blind (Tritanopia) colorblind have problems seeing the color blue.

MONOCHROMACY COLOR BLINDNESS

Rod monochromacy (RM), also called congenital complete achromatopsia or total color blindness, is a rare and extremely severe form of an autosomal recessively inherited retinal disorder resulting in a severe visual handicap.

What kind of occupations can be affected by color deficiencies?

When it comes to careers it can be a very broad spectrum, ranging from mixing paint to those that require a person to operate machinery, deal with color-coded wires, or read colored dashboards. So color vision deficiency can have a profound influence on a person’s choice of occupation.

List of Restricted Careers for Colorblind People

"ARE THERE ANY ADVANTAGES OF BEING COLORBLIND?"

Almost all the articles on the internet talk about the problems that come with being colorblind. However, the good news is, there are also advantages.

Read this article: 10 Shocking Advantages of Being Colorblind

Are there currently any treatments for color blindness?

There are no preventative treatments as it's genetic. However colored filters, spectacles, and contact lenses have been introduced that can alter someone's color perception. They might allow the wearer to see a few more colors or colors nearer to how a person with normal color vision would see them, but it doesn't really solve the issue. Color blindness affects so many aspects of our life. You can learn some tips & tricks at this online training course designed for colorblind people.