Acquired CVD along the blue-yellow or S wavelength can be caused by a variety of illness, injury or exposures and can occur at any age. Typically the causes of this form of CVD are unlikely to be bilateral, and patients often have a milder form of Tritan symptoms.
Cataracts are one cause of acquired CVD symptoms. They can cause a mild or moderate limiting function due to the thickening and yellowing effect on the intraocular lens that naturally filters blue light. Cataracts make it harder to distinguish color with a lack of illumination or with color desaturation. Patients may sense their world as “brighter” and “more vivid” post IOL. Their color perception is compromised or limited due to the filter of their discolored intraocular lens.
Many chronic diseases of the eye dealing with the macula, such as glaucoma, AMD and retinopathy will cause color perception issues that worsen over time. Various commonly prescribed medications, chemicals, drugs and herbal compounds can cause ocular CVD side effects. Chronic alcoholism, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis and sickle cell anemia, as well as commonly used drugs that treat heart problems, high blood pressure, infections and psychological problems are being studied as possible causes of acquired CVD. To date, there are over 100 medications likely to cause these side effects. (See the CE “The Human Brain and its Perception of Color: A Study in Understanding Color Deficient Patients” on 2020mag.com/ce.)
June 2017
Eyes/Optics