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FAQ.
Providing you with answers to the questions we hear most often.
Frequently asked questions
What is "color blindness"?
Color blindness is a term used to describe people who do not see colors the same way as most others. Actually, a better term for the condition is color vision deficiency. This deficiency is caused by a genetic defect that affects the pigments of the retina and alters the brain's perception of particular colors.
How does one become color blind?
For most people, color blindness is an inherited genetic defect. For others, color blindness can develop as a byproduct of other disorders.
Why does color blindness mostly effect men?
Per the National Institutes of Health, "men are much more likely to be colorblind than women because the genes responsible for the most common, inherited color blindness are on the X chromosome. Males only have one X chromosome, while females have two X chromosomes. In females, a functional gene on only one of the X chromosomes is enough to compensate for the loss on the other. This kind of inheritance pattern is called X-linked, and primarily affects males. Inherited color blindness can be present at birth, begin in childhood, or not appear until the adult years."
What is the percentage of color blindness in the human population?
Roughly 1 in 12 men (8.3%) and 1 in 200 women (0.5%) have the most common form of color vision deficiency. Researchers have found that color vision deficiency is believed to vary by ethnicity.
What are the main types of color blindness?
Some genetic defects in the photopigments in cones at the back of your eye alter their ability to react to color, while other defects can cause a total loss of color reaction. Depending on these types, a person might have difficulty perceiving red, green, blue colors or any colors at all.