Color Blindness - Things To Know!

One in 12 males suffers from color blindness as compared to one in 200 females. The former are more susceptible to this disorder because X chromosome is responsible for this disorder. Males carry only one X chromosome while females carry two. If there is any defect in the X chromosome, females can compensate with the other but males cannot.

Color blindness is typically categorized into three categories. The first is red-green color blindness that affects majority of the people and such people cannot recognize the shades of red and green because they lack red or green retinal photoreceptors or there is some mutation in the photoreceptors. In blue-yellow color blindness, one cannot recognize blue, yellow, red and green shades. In total color blindness, one cannot recognize any color.

Color blind people have difficulty perceiving red, green, blue, and yellow shades depending on the type of color blindness they suffer from but they can see other colors. Only those who are completely color blind cannot see any color.

Genetics is the primary cause of color blindness and mutations in the X-chromosome cause the disorder. Diabetes can also harm the retina and the retinal cones leading to color blindness. A few drugs can also cause damage to the retinal cones.