Is It Possible To Have Normal Color Vision And Then Become Colorblind?

Have you ever wondered if a person with normal color vision can become color vision deficient? Can it happen to anyone?

FIRST, LET’S REVIEW WHAT CAUSES COLOR BLINDNESS.

The eye contains nerve cells called cones that enable the “retina”, a light-sensitive layer of tissue in the back of your eye, to see colors.

Three different kinds of cones absorb various wavelengths of light, and each kind reacts to either Red, Green, or Blue (RGB). The cones send information to the brain to distinguish colors.

This difference in sensitivity in one or more cones can make a person color blind.

https://www.aao.org/eye-health/anatomy/cones — American Academy of Ophthalmology

IS IT INHERITED OR ACQUIRED CONDITION?

Color blindness is usually a genetic (hereditary) condition (you are born with it). It’s due to a genetic defect. This means that the condition passes down through the family, mostly from a mother. Someone who has close family members who are colorblind is more likely to have the condition as well. However, there are cases when color blindness can be an acquired condition.

ACQUIRED COLOR BLINDNESS

Acquired color blindness develops later in life and can affect men and women equally. It can be due to ocular or systemic diseases (diabetes, cataracts, macular degeneration), the toxicity of medications (Plaquenil, antidepressants like Prozac, oral contraceptives like Nolvadex, etc.) occupational exposures, and trauma of the head. Also, diseases that damage the ‘optic nerve’ or the ‘retina’ of the eye can cause acquired color blindness.

One of the most common “optic nerve” conditions that can cause color blindness is ‘Glaucoma’, when the internal pressure of the eye, or the intraocular pressure, is too high. The pressure damages the optic nerve, which carries signals from the eye to the brain so that you can see. As a result, your ability to distinguish colors may diminish.

For that reason, you should alert your doctor if your color vision changes. It might indicate a more serious underlying issue.

If color blindness occurs as a result of illness or injury, treating the underlying cause may help to improve color detection.

However, there’s no cure for inherited color blindness.

LIVING WITH COLOR BLINDNESS

People who are colorblind often adapt certain techniques to make life easier. For example, memorizing the order of the lights from top to bottom on a traffic light, or remembering the name of colors in the environment (tomato is red, water is blue, leaves are green) removes the need to distinguish its colors.

In my courses, you can learn better techniques to improve your life. You can learn color-matching techniques and learn how to work with some software and mobile apps for colorblind people.

Overall, an inherited color blindness can be a lifelong challenge.

But there is a solution for you: I created a Colorblind Guide, to help you handle your daily struggles with colors.

Being colorblind myself, I know all the challenges that come with it, and will be the best person to advise you and share my best techniques. In just two weeks of my training, you will be able to make color-related decisions with less brain-breaking effort.