कलर ब्लाइंडनेस (Color blindness)
Colour blindness is a condition where a person cannot figure out the difference between certain colours. This happens because he/she may be born without certain colour sensitive pigments in their eyes. These pigments are usually present in the cones of the eye, which are present at the back of the eyeball.
The eye has a number of components, and one of the most important parts of the eye is the retina. The retina is placed at the back of the eyeball and is packed with nerve endings that carry impulses to the brain along with two types of photoreceptor cells, called the rods and cones.
The rods are mainly responsible for perceiving the presence of light and are placed on the outer edge of the retina. The central part is filled with cones. Cones have a number of pigments that help them perform their main function of helping us see colours. These pigments have a different wavelength which, when activated, helps us perceive colour. The three main colours that these pigments are sensitive to are– green, blue and red.
In the case of colour-blind people, because of the deficiency of certain pigments, they are unable to see these colours. For example, what we may see as red, they may see as light green or grey, depending on the type of colour blindness they are suffering from.
The prevalence of colour blindness is more in boys compared to girls. It has been reported that 8% of men are colour blind in this world, while only 0.5% of women suffer from this disorder.
Girls are mainly the carriers of this disorder and pass it to their offsprings. A girl child will be affected with colour blindness only if her father is colour blind and her mother is a carrier.
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