Is there a cure for colour blindness?

As of today there is no known treatment which can heal colour blindness.

Colour vision deficiency is in most cases a congenital disease based on some corrupted chromosomes. In this case, only some form of gene therapy could give you back normal colour vision. At the moment there are some scientists doing experiments with mice, trying to inject them colour vision genes and revert their colour blindness. But we are still far away from a treatment for humans—if there will be any in the near future at all.

It’s a little bit different with some form of acquired colour blindness. Aging, drugs, alcohol, some form of other diseases and even a hard hit on your head can also cause a colour vision deficiency. In this case, it could be possible that this state can be reverted. There is also no treatment available. But it is reported, that some persons who were colourblind after a hard hit on their head, regained the ability of normal color vision again after a certain timespan.

There are a few people who claim that Chinese acupuncture can help colourblind people to see and distinguish more colours.

The only possibility for colourblind people are some sort of colour correcting lenses. They can’t give you back normal colour vision but might help you to broaden your perceived colour spectrum in certain cases. But also this is no cure for colour blindness.

Source:
http://www.colblindor.com/color-blindness-most-frequently-asked-questions/

Sympathizing with people suffering from colour blindness

An account from a writer: 

"As a child and to this day as an adult I have a terrible time in full bright sunlight. I almost never had the chance to go outside on a sunny day without sunglasses as I find the bright light too unbearable. as a child, before I knew all this, I used to always walk with my head pointed down to the ground and I squinted all the time outside. Teachers and other concerned adults always assumed I suffered form low self esteem or some other techo-babble psychological condition, when all it was in the first place was the inability to walk in bright sunlight without experiencing pain in my eyes. To me, the full midday sun is like having a camera flash go on and stay on in my face." 

http://www.start.ca/users/joneil/colour2.htm

ldpride.net

 How can we play our part to help people with colour blindness?

People who suffer from colour blindness tends to develop low self esteem. They are ordinary people like us and have feelings too. DO NOT DISCRIMINATE THEM. Imagine how will you feel like in their shoes not being able to distinguish colours? For example, if you do know someone who is not able to differentiate colours, you should not make fun of them. Instead, you could help them by differentiating for them the different colours. Also, if you do happen to have a sibling who is colour blind, you could help him or her match his/her cloths before attending any occasions.

Experience for yourself what people with colour blidness see!

Understanding more about colour blindness

What are the different types of colour blindness?

Colour blindness can be categorized among many types. Based on clinical appearance, colour blindness may be described as total or partial. Total colour blindness is much less common than partial colour blindness. There are two major types of colour blindness: those who have difficulty distinguishing between red and green, and who have difficulty distinguishing between blue and yellow.

What a normal person would see is:

However, a colour blind person who has difficulty distinguishing between red and green would see these instead:

A person who has difficulty distinguishing between blue and yellow will see this:

Why do these people get colour blindness?

Colour blindness is a sex linked recessive condition, which means that it is a recessive trait condition which is transmitted in the 23 pair of chromosomes.

Males only have one X chromosome in their 23rd pair which means they can either have normal vision or be affected, they cannot be carriers. the genotype of the 23rd pair of chromosomes (while X=normal and X^R = affected) would be:

For a male with normal vision, XY

For a male with colour blindness, X^RY

Because males have only one X chromosome in their 23rd pair, they have a higher chance of inheriting colour blindness, this is why more males in the population have colour blindness then females.

For a female with normal vision, XX

For a female with normal vision but a carrier, X^RX

For a female with colour blindness, X^RX^R

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_blindness
http://colourblind.freeservers.com/how.htm

What do you see?

Do you see a number '25' on the left circle and a number '29' on the right circle?

Do you know that people with colour blindness are not able to see them? Instead, all they see are 'spots'? Most of the circles to the right are nothing but spots to me." says a writer from http://www.toledo-bend.com/colorblind/Ishihara.asp who suffer from colour blindness. 

So, what do people suffering from colour blindness see?

So, what is colour blindness?

Colour blindness or colour vision deficiency is the inability or decreased ability to see colour, or perceive color differences, under normal lighting conditions.

The Colour Wheel

This is a typical example of how a colour wheel looks like:

                                                http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_wheel

A colour wheel or colour circle is an abstract illustrative organization of colour hues around a circle that shows relationships between primary colours, secondary colurs and complementary colours.

Primary Colours:

 

 lynnerickardsauthor.wordpress.com

Secondary Colours:

When primary colours are mixed together forming the secondary colours.

colormedivine2.com

Complementary Colours:

a one of a pair of primary or secondary colors opposed to the other member of the pair on a schematic chart or scale, as green opposed to red, orange opposed to blue, or violet opposed to yellow.

designwashere.com

Why do we see things in colour?

The human eye and brain together translate light into colour. Light receptors within the eye transmit messages to the brain, which produces the familiar sensations of colour.

Colour is not inherent in objects. Rather, the surface of an object reflects some colours and absorbs all the others. We perceive only the reflected colours.

For example, red is not "in" an apple. The surface of the apple is reflecting the wavelengths we see as red and absorbing all the rest. An object appears white when it reflects all wavelengths and black when it absorbs them all.

Sources:
http://www.pantone.com/pages/pantone/Pantone.aspx?pg=19357&ca=29

Understanding Colours

What are colours? 

They are the property possessed by an object of producing different sensations on the eye as a result of the way the object reflects or emits light.

So why do we need colours?

We need color in our lives. It’s as simple as that. Colors are essential; surrounding us with them makes us feel good. Can you imagine living in a world completely without colours? How boring will that be!

We live in a world where color dominates our lives and whether we like it or not we are drawn to the colors needed to create balance in our lives. They affect our mood and are excellent for self-healing. 

The relationship between colours and our mood:

Red: Energy, passion, power, excitement and love.

Orange: A creative, lively color. Great if you feel a bit moody or depressed.

Yellow: Warmth, calmness, willpower.

Blue: Relaxing and calming. A color with a soothing effect, great for all kinds of mood swings.

Purple/Violet: Maturity, spirituality, inspiration and rest.

Green: Color of hope and harmony.

Sources:
http://www.healthtohappiness.com/us/blogg/happy-kats-blog/2009/10/15/we-need-color-.html
moodringscolormeanings.com