Can You Suddenly Become Color Blind?

Can You Become Color Blind?

While most color blindness is inherited at birth, you can actually become color blind later in life. This is called acquired color blindness and it affects men and women equally. Acquired color blindness is often the result of diseases, so it’s important that you talk to your color if your vision changes.

Color blindness is often shrouded in mystery, but it doesn’t need to be. Here are some answers to common questions about color blindness:

What Causes You to Be Born Color Blind?

The most common cause of color blindness is a defect in your cones—the cells of your eyes which help you sense the colors of red, green, and blue. With this congenital condition, you may have one of three types of color blindness:

• Deuteranopia— Affects your green cones
• Protanopia— Affects your red cones
• Tritanopia— Affects your blue cones

Find out if you have one of these forms of congenital color blindness with EyeQue’s free online color blind test.

How Do You Know If You’re Color Blind?

Usually, those who are color blind experience difficulty perceiving different colors or the brightness of colors. Color blindness is fairly common among men, impacting about 10% of men.

According to the National Library of Medicine, about 1 in 30,000 people have a rare condition called achromatopsia which prevents people from being able to see any colors. Their vision includes only black, white, and shades of gray. People usually find out when a loved one points out mismatched clothing or when they are smaller and learning the names of colors.

Typically, you find out that you are color blind by taking a color blind test. This color blind test can be done at your eye doctor, or you can take a variety of online color blind tests.

Can You Suddenly Become Color Blind?

If you were not born with color blindness, the American Academy of Ophthalmology(AAO) reports you can develop issues distinguishing colors later in life due to:

• Diseases
• Trauma impacting the optic nerve or retina
• Effects from drugs, including prescribed medications and illicit drugs
• Chronic alcoholism

Can Women Have Color Deficiency?

Yes, women can suffer from color vision deficiency – read more about that here.

What Diseases Can Cause Me to Become Suddenly Color Blind?

Sudden changes in color vision can indicate a serious disease, and the AAO recommends you make an appointment to see your ophthalmologist if you notice a change in the way you perceive colors.

Diseases which could cause changes in color vision include:

• Metabolic disease
• Vascular disease, including diabetic retinopathy
• Glaucoma
• Macular degeneration
• Alzheimer’s disease
• Parkinson’s disease
• Leukemia
• Sickle cell anemia
• Transient achromatopsia

Learn more about color blindness with EyeQue.