Colour blindness is a common genetic disorder that affects a person’s ability to see or recognize certain colours.
Many more men are affected by colour blindness than women, because the genes responsible for the most common form of colour blindness are carried on the X-chromosome. Women have two X-chromosomes and can, therefore, compensate if they have the mutations for colour blindness on only one of these chromosomes. Men, however, have one X- and one Y-chromosome and will be affected by colour blindness if their X-chromosome carries the mutation.
Although there are a few different types of colour blindness, red/green is the most common. It is passed to a son from a mother with an affected X-chromosome.
Colour blindness is not always genetic and can also be caused by eye disease or trauma.
We recommend that you visit us to have your child’s colour vision tested before he or she starts attending school. Knowledge about the status of a person’s colour vision could influence career choices later in life.