Not everyone can see all the colours of a rainbow. Colourblindness is described differently by everyone who has it. There are many types of colour blindness and it affects them all differently.
Let’s learn something about colour blindness so we can better understand the condition. Colour blindness is something many have adapted to. Especially from birth, it is not uncommon for those suffering from it, not to even know it.
Males are more likely to identify that they are colourblind. About 1 in 12 males vs 1 in 200 females are affected.
Remember which light means “go” when you drive. Of the three types of colour blindness, the most common is red-green, the two are blue-yellow and complete colour blindness.
Red-green and blue-yellow colour blindness is actually more accurately known as “colour vision deficiency” because you are not actually blind.
99% of all colorblindness or colour deficiency diagnoses are red-green colour blindness.
Colour blindness is linked to the mother’s genetics. This hereditary deficiency is passed on the 23rd chromosome which is the X sex chromosome. This means females who are colour blind will pass it on to their male-born children.
Those who have a strong colour blind deficiency might only be able to detect 20 hues of colour apart while a full-colour vision person can detect 100+ hues differently.
Individuals are not necessarily born colour blind, for those who are not affected genetically can still become colour blind as a result of eye disease, ageing or retina damage.
For those wanting to be a pilot, police officer, or firefighter – it is a requirement to have perfect vision in colour.
There have been rare cases when an individual has one normal, full colour identifying eye and one eye that is colour blind.
There is no cure for colour blindness but rather coping mechanisms can be put in place to help individuals decipher colours more easily.