{"id":3524,"date":"2023-09-06T08:35:19","date_gmt":"2023-09-06T07:35:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.napier.ac.uk\/library\/?p=3524"},"modified":"2023-08-22T15:30:29","modified_gmt":"2023-08-22T14:30:29","slug":"colour-blindness-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.napier.ac.uk\/library\/2023\/09\/06\/colour-blindness-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Colour Blindness Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

Colour Blindness Day<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Colour Blindness Awareness Day was launched in 2015 and is held on September 6th \u2013 the birthday of John Dalton. He is credited with being the first person known to realise colour blindness exists. Furthermore, he also introduced atomic theory into chemistry. As a scientist, he became aware that neither he nor his brother saw colours the same way as everyone else. He thought this was because they had blue liquid in their eyes and Dalton left his eyes to science so that research could be carried out after his death. Dalton understood that because both he and his brother were affected, their condition must be hereditary. Over 150 years later DNA proved he had inherited colour blindness. Colour blindness is also known as Daltonism in his memory.<\/p>\n

What is Colour blindness?<\/h3>\n

We\u2019re sure you are aware that not all disabilities are visible. Colour blindness or colour vision deficiency (CVD) is one of those that you may not realise is affecting someone. It affects roughly 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women. The effects can be mild, moderate or severe. You can be born with CVD, or it can start at any age. It can be a side effect of conditions such as diabetes and multiple sclerosis or as a consequence of the eye disease glaucoma. Medications or exposure to certain chemicals can also cause colour deficiencies.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, there is currently no known cure or treatment for inherited colour blindness. Those with the condition will find that they can adapt to it to some extent but may not be able to pursue professions where accurate colour vision is required. If a colour vision deficiency is developed because of illness, injury or medication, addressing the underlying condition may help.<\/p>\n

The main symptom of CVD is finding it hard to tell the difference between colours. There are different types of CVD – the most common being unable to fully \u2018see\u2019 red, green or blue light. Being \u2018red\/green colour blind\u2019 means people with it can easily confuse any<\/strong> colours which have some red or green as part of the whole colour. So someone with red\/green colour blindness is likely to confuse blue and purple because they can\u2019t \u2018see\u2019 the red element of the colour purple.<\/p>\n

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Testing for CVD<\/u><\/strong><\/h2>\n

There are 2 main tests for colour vision deficiency:<\/p>\n