Color
deficiency is a
vision problem that makes it hard to tell the difference between
certain colors.
Full color deficiency is very rare. Most color
deficient people have trouble with just one or two colors. The colors
they
have the most difficulty telling the difference between are red and
green. Shades of red and green might look brownish to a color deficient
person.
We
see in color because the retina at the back of the eye has special
cells called cones. There are three types of cones: cones for red
light,
cones for green light, and cones for blue light. These three types of
cones
mix the colors together to create all of the colors people see. In a
color-deficient person, the red and green cones are very similar to
each other and try to see both colors of light. This causes an abnormal
mix of color and color confusion.
Color deficiency is
usually an inherited and lifelong condition. It is most commonly passed
from mother to son. 10% of the males have color deficiency. A
woman can
be a "carrier" of the gene but will usually not be color deficient
herself.
Rarely, an eye disease can
cause you to become color deficient later in life. For example, optic
nerve pathology can cause red-green deficiency, glaucoma causes
blue/yellow deficiency.
There are different tests to diagnose color deficiency, easily
available in the eye doctor office.
Usually
there is no need to treat color deficiency. People with color
deficiency learn to tell the differences between colors: judging
traffic lights, reading test strips or identifying other chemical
reactions, coloring with markers or crayons, matching clothes, reading
color-coded maps or weather charts, knowing if fruits are ripe or if
meat is rare or well-done.
In some cases, a color deficient person may need to avoid careers that
require excellent color vision.
Parents
may need to give their color deficient child more assistance picking
out clothes until the child can learn how to match colors.
Call today our
office and schedule an appointment for a comprehensive vision and
ocular health
assessment.
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