COLOUR

BLINDNESS

INDEX
S.NO TOPIC

1 Introduction

2 Types of Color Blindness

3 Symptoms and Causes

4 Genetics

5 Diagnosis and Tests

6 Treatment

7 Conclusion

INTRODUCTION
 Color blindness (color vision deficiency) is the
decreased ability to see color or differences color. It can
impair tasks such as selecting ripe fruit, choosing clothing,
and reading traffic lights.  An Among humans, males are
more likely to be color blind than females, because
the genes responsible for the most common forms of color
blindness are on the X chromosome. Females have two X
chromosomes, so a defect in one is typically compensated
for by the other. Non-color-blind females can carry genes
for color blindness and pass them on to their
children. Males only have one X chromosome and therefore
always express the genetic disorder if they have the
recessive gened have decreased visual acuity. Diagnosis is
typically with the Ishihara color test; other methods
include genetic testing.
 Special lenses such as X-chrome lenses may help
people with red–green color blindness in bright light. Red–
green color blindness is the most common form, followed
by blue–yellow color blindness and total color
blindness. Red–green color blindness affects up to 8% of
males and 0.5% of females of Northern European
descent. The ability to see color also decreases in old age.
The effect of color blindness on artistic ability is
controversial. The ability to draw appears to be unchanged,
and a number of famous artists are believed to have been
color blind.
TYPES OF COLOR BLINDNESS

There are several types of inherited colour blindness. For

information on acquired colour vision defects refer to our
page Acquired Colour Vision Defects

Trichomacy

Normal colour vision uses all three types of light cones

correctly and is known as trichromacy. People with normal
colour vision are known as trichromats.

 Anomalous trichomacy

People with ‘faulty’ trichromatic vision will be colour blind

to some extent and are known as anomalous trichromats.
In people with this condition all of their three cone types
are used to perceive light colours but one type of cone
perceives light slightly out of alignment, so that there are
three different types of effect produced depending upon
which cone type is ‘faulty’.

Normal Vision Deuteranomaly

The different anomalous conditions are protanomaly,
which is a reduced sensitivity to red
light, deuteranomaly which is a reduced sensitivity to
green light and is the most common form of colour
blindness and tritanomaly which is a reduced sensitivity
to blue light and is extremely rare.

Dichromacy

 Lack of ability to see colour is the easiest way to explain

this condition but in actual fact it is a specific section of
the light spectrum which can’t be perceived.

The sections of the light spectrum which the ‘red’ and

‘green’ cones perceive overlap and this is why red and green
colour vision deficiencies are often known as red/green
colour blindness and why people with red and green
deficiencies see the world in a similar way.
  Protanopia

Protanopes are more likely to confuse:-

1. Black with many shades of red
2. Dark brown with dark green, dark orange and dark red
3. Some blues with some reds, purples and dark pinks
4. Mid-greens with some oranges

 Deuteranopes

Deuteranopes are more likely to confuse:-

1. Mid-reds with mid-greens
2. Blue-greens with grey and mid-pinks
3. Bright greens with yellows
4. Pale pinks with light grey
5. Mid-reds with mid-brown
6. Light blues with lilac

 Tritanopes

The most common colour confusions for tritanopes are

light blues with greys, dark purples with black, mid-greens
with blues and oranges with reds. The images show how
the beautiful colours of the pigments are lost to people with
each type of dichromatic vision.

Monochromacy(achromatopia)

Monochromacy Normal Vision

People with monochromatic vision can see no colour at all
and their world consists of different shades of grey ranging
from black to white, rather like only seeing the world on an
old black and white television set.  Although we are unable
to advise on the diagnosis of specific cases we have
undertaken further research to try and understand why so
many people are being told they are totally colour blind
when in reality they are much more likely to have a severe
form of red-green colour blindness. 
SYMPTOMS AND CAUSES
People affected by color blindness may not be able to
distinguish:

 Different shades of red and green

 Different shades of blue and yellow
 Any colors
The most common color deficiency is an inability to see
some shades of red and green. Often, a person who is red-
green or blue-yellow deficient isn't completely insensitive to
both colors. Defects can be mild, moderate or severe.
Seeing colors across the light spectrum is a complex
process that begins with your eyes' ability to respond to
different wavelengths of light. Light, which contains all
color wavelengths, enters your eye through the cornea and
passes through the lens and transparent, jellylike tissue in
your eye (vitreous humor) to wavelength-sensitive cells
(cones) at the back of your eye in the macular area of the
retina.

Color blindness has several causes:

 Inherited disorder Inherited color deficiencies are

much more common in males than in females. The
most common color deficiency is red-green, with blue-
yellow deficiency being much less common. It is rare to
have no color vision at all.

 Diseases. Some conditions that can cause color

deficits are sickle cell anemia, diabetes, macular
degeneration, Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis,
glaucoma, Parkinson's disease, chronic alcoholism and
leukemia.
 Certain medications. Some medications can alter
color vision, such as some drugs that treat certain
autoimmune diseases, heart problems, high blood
pressure, erectile dysfunction, infections, nervous
disorders and psychological problems.
 Aging. Your ability to see colors deteriorates slowly as
you age.
 Chemicals. Exposure to some chemicals in the
workplace, such as carbon disulfide and fertilizers,
may cause loss of color vision.
GENETICS

X-linked recessive inheritance

Color blindness is typically an inherited genetic disorder. It

is most commonly inherited from mutations on the X
chromosome, but the mapping of the human genome has
shown there are many causative mutations – mutations
capable of causing color blindness originate from at least
19 different chromosomes and 56 different genes (as shown
online at the Online Mendelian Inheritance in
Man (OMIM)).
Two of the most common inherited forms of color blindness
are protanomaly (and, more rarely, protanopia – the two
together often known as "protans") and deuteranomaly (or,
more rarely, deuteranopia – the two together often referred
to as "deutans").Both “protans’’ and “deutans”(of which the
deutans are by far the most common) are known as "red–
green color-blind". They comprise about 8% of human
males and 0.6% of females of Northern European ancestry.
About 8% of males, and 0.4% of females, are red–green
color blind in some way or another, whether it is one color,
a color combination, or another mutation. Males are at a
greater risk of inheriting an X-linked mutation because
males only have one X chromosome (XY, with the
Y chromosome carrying altogether different genes from the
X chromosome), and females have two (XX); if a woman
inherits a normal X chromosome in addition to the one that
carries the mutation, she will not display the mutation.
Men do not have a second X chromosome to override the
chromosome that carries the mutation. If 8% of variants of
a given gene are defective, the probability of a single copy
being defective is 8%, but the probability that two copies
are both defective is (0.08)² = 0.0064 = 0.64%.

Y- male-only chromosome, neutral for green-red color

blindness.
X- normal X chromosome.
XD- X chromosome with a deficiency.
XDG- X chromosome with a deficiency of green.
XDR- X chromosome with a deficiency of red.

Genotype Result

XY Unaffected man

Xd Y Affected man

XX Unaffected woman

Xd X Carrier woman

XdG XdR Carrier woman with 2 defective X

XdG XdG or XdR XdR Affected woman

Daughter
Mother Father Daughter 2 Son 1 Son 2
1

Affected Affected Affected

same color
Affected
deficiency of
mother

Affected Carrier
different color with 2 defective X
deficiency of
 mother

Unaffected Carrier

Carrier
Affected Affected with 2
Carrier
defective X
with 2
defective X
Unaffected Carrier

Affected
same color
Affected
deficiency of
mother
Carrier
Affecte
Carrier Affected Unaffected
Carrier d
different color
with 2
deficiency of
defective X
mother

Unaffected Carrier Unaffected

Affected Carrier
Unaffected Unaffected
Unaffected Unaffected
DIAGNOSIS AND TESTS

An Ishihara test image as seen by subjects

with normal color vision

The Ishihara color test, which consists of a series of

pictures of colored spots, is the test most often used to
diagnose red–green color deficiencies. A figure (usually one
or more Arabic digits) is embedded in the picture as a
number of spots in a slightly different color, and can be
seen with normal color vision, but not with a particular
color defect.
Another test used by clinicians to measure chromatic
discrimination is the Farnsworth–Munsell 100 hue test.
The patient is asked to arrange a set of colored caps or
chips to form a gradual transition of color between two
anchor caps.
The HRR color test (developed by Hardy, Rand, and Rittler)
is a red–green color test that, unlike the Ishihara, also has
plates for the detection of the tritan defects.
Most clinical tests are designed to be fast, simple, and
effective at identifying broad categories of color blindness.
In academic studies of color blindness, on the other hand,
there is more interest in developing flexible tests to collect
thorough datasets, identify copunctal points, and
measure just noticeable differences.

TREATMENT

There are no treatments for most types of color vision

difficulties, unless the color vision problem is related to the
use of certain medicines or eye conditions. Discontinuing
the medication causing your vision problem or treating the
underlying eye disease may result in better color vision.
There is no cure for color deficiencies. The American
Optometric Association reports that a contact lens on one
eye can increase the ability to differentiate between colors,
though nothing can cause a person to actually perceive the
deficient color.
 Lenses
Optometrists can supply colored spectacle lenses or a
single red-tint contact lens to wear on the non-dominant
eye, but although this may improve discrimination of some
colors, it can make other colors more difficult to
distinguish. A 1981 review of various studies to evaluate
the effect of the X-chromosome contact lens concluded
that, while the lens may allow the wearer to achieve a
better score on certain color vision tests, it did not correct
color vision in the natural environment.

CONCLUSION
Color blindness is a mild disability when one of your cones
is missing. This causes irregular vision compared to normal
people. As it may shrink your range of visible spectrum, it
may also change how the color looks. Color blindness may
change your life, because of a slightly shrunken
employment list, but many people some their problems and
change their daily way slightly and is able to deal with color
blind. It won’t effect your life greatly, because some people
don’t notice their color blind until the go to an eye doctor,
or don’t notice for the rest of their lives!
BIBLOGRAPHY
1) https://en.wikipedia.org.com
2) https://www.colourblindawareness.org.com
3) https://www.mayoclinic.org.com
4) https://sites.google.com