No doubt, color makes the life most beautiful. Color speaks to us. Imagine a painting or surroundings without color? Life might seem so dull. There are people in this world who are less blessed than the rest, as they have lost their sight for ever. But what about those people who are partially out of sight or has color blindness.

Color blindness can start as a mild problem which grows severe gradually. Many see colors in limited range but few might not see colors at all. A minor deficiency is when one or more of the three cones function poorly but it is termed severe when one of the cones is missing or does not function at all.
Cones present in retina have the basic colors – red, blue and green. Any abnormality in them or deficiency leads to color blindness. In such cases any effect in blue color i.e. protanopia in which one cannot distinguish between blue and yellow and they start looking like white or gray.

Deuteranopia deficiency affects Caucasian which is 8 % in male and 0.5 % in female. Achromatopsia means inability to distinguish colors. A person suffering with this sees the world in shade of gray, but this is very rare.

Person with leukoderma and sensitive eyes cannot sustain bright colors. It gives a lot of stress to them.
An infant or person with low vision problem should be kept away from sunlight, as it can affect their eyes which may lead to color blindness if the cones in their retina get affected.

Nowadays various tests are available to check the color blindness deficiency and also the percentage of abnormality. There are no cures as color blindness is usually inherited but if it is after birth it may be treated upon. Many times due to cataracts, color blindness may take place which can be overcome with color blindness treatment surgery.

In many parts of world an average is taken to understand the number of people affected due to color blindness. Like 1% of Eskimo males are color blind, 2.9% of boys from Saudi Arabia and 3.7% from India etc.

Also Read:

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• BREATHING PROBLEM : Causes and reasons
• Allergies from Food Dyes : Types, Causes and symptoms

by Dr John on 25. Mar, 2010 in Diseases and Conditions