Red–green color blindness affects up to 1 in 12 males (8%) and 1 in 200 females (0.5%). The ability to see color also decreases in old age. In certain countries, color blindness may make people ineligible for certain jobs, such as those of aircraft pilots, train drivers, crane operators, and people in the armed forces. The effect of color blindness on artistic ability is controversial, but a number of famous artists are believed to have been color blind. Signs and symptoms
Color blindness describes both a symptom of reduced color perception, as well as several conditions where colorblindness is the primary – or only – symptom. This section will focus only on color blindness as a symptom. A colorblind subject will have decreased (or no) color discrimination along the red-green axis, blue-yellow axis, or both, though the vast majority of the colorblind are only affected on their red-green axis. The first indication of colorblindness generally consists of a person using the wrong color for an object, such as when painting, or calling a color by the wrong name. The colors that are confused are very consistent among people with the same type of color blindness. Confusion colors
Confusion colors are pairs or groups of colors that will often be mistaken by the colorblind.
The cause is generally unknown, but a viral illness has been reported prior to multiple evanescent white dot syndrom in one-third of cases. Since the disease occurs primarily in females, hormonal status might be a contributing factor. Acute zonal occult outer retinopathy
Some discrepancy exists as to whether acute zonal occult outer retinopathy is considered a white dot syndrome. However, it may definitely be related to other diseases included in the white dot syndrome group. Acute zonal occult outer retinopathy occurs in young to middle age adults and may eventually progress to retinal cell death. Symptoms include acute visual field loss and photopsias. Suspected causes include autoimmune, viral, and fungal. Multifocal choroiditis and panuveitis
Multifocal choroiditis occurs mainly in myopic females. The fundus presents with yellow or gray lesions (white dots) at the level of the choroid and retinal pigment epithelium. The size of the white dots are between 50 and 500 micrometres and localized in the macula. The disease is characterized by vitritis and anterior chamber inflammation. Decreased vision due to vitreous inflammation may occur. Unlike multiple evanescent white dot syndrome, multifocal choroiditis is a chronic disorder and macular scarring contributes to severe visual loss. Theories regarding the cause include an exogenous pathogen sensitizing an individual to antigens within photoreceptors, retinal pigment epithelium, or choroid. Punctate inner choroiditis
Punctate inner choroiditis is an inflammatory choroiditis which occurs mainly in young females. Symptoms include blurred vision and scotomas. Gray-white or yellow lesions are mainly present in the posterior pole and are between 100 and 300 micrometres in size.