Color blindness, also known as color blindness or color deficiency, is when a person cannot differentiate colors normally. Most commonly, color blindness occurs when a person cannot distinguish between some colors, usually reds and greens, although sometimes this also happens with the color blue.
In the nerve cells of the eye there are pigments that detect red, blue or green colors. People with color blindness are deficient in some or all of these pigments. If one of them is missing, it can be difficult to distinguish between red and green or between blue and yellow.
Which color blindness is worse?
The most frequent and common type of color blindness is the one in which shades of green and red are not differentiated. Commonly, this color blindness is caused by a genetic problem more frequent in males, since a recessive allele is produced by the X chromosome.
Symptomatology of color blindness
There are different degrees of color blindness. For example, there are people with mild color deficiencies, who in good lighting conditions can see colors naturally. However, in less light or dimly lit conditions, they may have some difficulty.
The most severe form of color blindness, where everything is seen in shades of gray, is very rare. It is also common that, because color blind people can see some colors, they do not know that they see them differently from other people.
Diagnosis of color blindness
The most common test for color blindness is a book containing different patterns and numbers made up of colored dots. If a person has color blindness, he or she will not be able to identify any of the patterns.
Another test for color blindness is the Ishihara Tests.
Treatment of color blindness
Inherited color blindness has no known treatment. It is present from birth and remains stable throughout life. However, early diagnosis of color blindness helps prevent problems of low self-esteem in the elementary school years.
In the event that a child suffers from color blindness, teachers should be informed so that they can adapt the curriculum to the child’s condition. For more information on this pathology, consult a specialist in Ophthalmology.