Color blindness is a condition in which the quality of color vision is reduced. A person suffering from this disease will have difficulty distinguishing certain colors (partial color blindness) or even all colors (total color blindness). Color blindness is a lifelong disease. However, sufferers can train themselves to adapt to this condition, so that daily activities continue to run normally. The doctor will determine the appropriate treatment method and according to the type of color blindness suffered.
Causes of Color Blindness
Basically the eye has special nerve cells containing pigments that react to color and light. These cells have three pigments that detect red, green, and blue colors.
In someone who suffers from color blindness, the pigment cells are damaged or do not function, so the eye cannot detect certain colors or even all colors.
This cell damage occurs due to gene abnormalities that are passed from parents to children. In addition to inherited gene disorders, there are also several other factors that can cause cell damage, namely:
- Suffering from diabetes, glaucoma, or multiple sclerosis.
- Drug side effects digoxin, ethambutol, phenytoin,chloroquine, and sildenafil.
- Exposure to chemicals carbon disulfide used in the rayon industry, and styrene used in the plastics and rubber industry.
- Damage or injury to the eye due to an accident.
Age can also be a factor in causing someone to suffer from color blindness. With age, the eye's ability to perceive light and color decreases. This is a natural process that can happen to everyone.
Symptoms and Types of Color Blindness
Color blindness is a condition in which sufferers have difficulty distinguishing certain colors (partial color blindness) or even all colors (total color blindness). The symptoms experienced by each patient can be different, depending on which pigment cells are damaged or not functioning.
Symptoms of color blindness are basically divided into three types, namely red-green, blue-yellow, and total. Each type has a different symptom character.
red-green color blindness
Some of the characteristics that can be experienced by people with red-green color blindness:
- Yellow and green look red.
- Orange, red, and yellow look like green.
- Red looks like black.
- Red looks tawny, and green looks like beige.
Blue-yellow color blindness:
This type also includes partial color blindness and has the following characteristics:
- Blue looks greenish, and it's hard to tell pink from yellow and red.
- Blue looks like green, and yellow looks like light gray or purple.
Total color blindness
Unlike the two types above, someone who suffers from total color blindness has difficulty distinguishing all colors. Even some sufferers can only see white, gray, and black.
Color Blind Diagnosis
Some people do not realize that they are color blind. That's because they have adapted to the situation. For example, because they know that the color of the leaf is green, they think and assume that green is the color they see.
Therefore, it is necessary to carry out a color blind examination. In addition to knowing the condition of eye health, the results of the examination are also one of the requirements for jobs that require careful eye in seeing colors, such as pilots, machinists, and doctors.
In checking for color blindness, there are several types of color blindness tests used by doctors, namely:
- Ishihara test. The Ishihara test is the most frequently used. In the process, the doctor will ask the patient to recognize the numbers or letters that are vaguely listed on the image in the form of colored dots.
- Testcolor arrangement. In this test, the patient must arrange different colors according to the gradation of the color density level.
Doctors can perform additional tests to find out the cause of color blindness. If color blindness is caused by an illness or side effect of drugs, the results of the examination are also used by the doctor to determine the appropriate treatment method.
Recognize Color Blindness Early on
There is no treatment method that can fully restore the patient's ability to see color. However, patients can train themselves to get used to the color blindness they suffer.
For parents, it is important to recognize the character of the symptoms and signs of color blindness in children. It is intended that parents can help children adapt to their conditions, so that school or daily activities can continue.
The signs of someone suffering from color blindness can vary, but are easy to spot. Some of them are:
- Difficulty following lessons at school related to color
- It is difficult to distinguish the color of raw and cooked meat
- Difficult to distinguish the color of traffic lights
All the difficulties experienced by color blind patients can be reduced by several efforts, such as:
- Ask friends or family for help when you are in a difficult situation related to color, such as matching the color of your clothes or seeing if cooked meat is done.
- Using bright lights in the house to help clarify the colors.
- Using available supporting technologies, such as special applications that can detect and tell the color of an object.
- Using special eye lenses. This special lens can help the patient in detecting certain colors. However, these lenses are not always suitable and work effectively for everyone.
If the color blindness experienced is the result of an illness or a side effect of drugs, the doctor will carry out treatment that aims to overcome the cause. Discuss further with the doctor regarding the efforts that can be made so that the color blindness that is suffered does not interfere with activities too much.