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Jon-Richfield says:

There are various possibilities, of which the two most obvious are genetic and physical (an artificial distinction, but it will have to do for now). Your being male excludes some classes of genetic effect, but the obvious possibility still remains that you are a genetic chimera, that is to say that your body contains two different populations of cells.

If the retina of one eye was formed from one population and the other eye from the other population, and those two populations happened to differ in relevant ways, that would explain the effect. As a visual analogy, you might think of a dog or cat with patchy skin colour; sometimes a patch of one colour covers one eye and a different colour the other eye. When that happens the eyes themselves might be of non-matching colours. Seeing this make it easier to understand why an animal such as a white cat might have one golden eye and one blue.

A slightly different class of possibility is that one eye has undergone a change of some sort in the colouring or transparency of its lens, retina or possibly some other component. In elderly people such changes are fairly routine and may necessitate cataract operations or the like. At your age this is not likely.

 

Partly as a matter of idle curiosity, and partly in case there is a condition that can be mended or prevented from getting worse, I think you should consider seeing an ophthalmic surgeon.

sssss
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Tags: colourblind, Eyes.

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posted on 2010-10-11 20:49:00 | Report abuse


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saga31 says:

This is a queation I have always had about my own eyesight. I have the same issue but mine usually relates to red. If I look a scene through my right eye, it looks warmer (i.e. more red), through my left eye it can sometimes appear more bluey (which I suppose could be green in fact).

The amount of contrast in colour between each eye can vary too. Sometimes I can look at what looks like a pink patch of colour on say grey with both eyes but when viewed using my right eye it looks red and through my left can blend quite nicely with the grey background!

 

sssss
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Tags: colourblind, Eyes.

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posted on 2010-10-12 10:33:54 | Report abuse


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marcparry says:

I visit my ophthalmic optician every year due to the disposable contact lenses that I wear and they haven't mentioned any problems, I did once ask about the different colour perception but my question was shrugged off by my particularly busy optician who wasn't interested which is why I've placed the question here. I haven't had any accidents involving my eyes and it would seem more people than I previously thought have a similar condition. As far as being a a genetic chimera go, I was a twin could this have any reference? also a bout of measels when I was young has caused a significant level of deafness, I previously hadn't considered it but could this also of affected my sight in this perculiar way?

sssss
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Tags: colourblind, Eyes.

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posted on 2010-10-12 14:11:47 | Report abuse

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Jon-Richfield says:

Marc,

 

"they haven't mentioned any problems..."

 

Good - I like that! Please note that I in no way wanted to invent concerns unnecessarily! If they think yours is a non-problem, that is a lot better than any alternative.

 

"... my particularly busy optician who wasn't interested..."

 

<siiigh> Yes. I must sympathise with both parties. But where I come from we do get a chance to talk to doctors, even ophthalmic surgeons. No doubt I have been spoiled.

 

"...it would seem more people than I previously thought have a similar condition."

 

That certainly is true.

 

Now, as for the rest, please understand that everything I said and shall say is handwaving and generalisation.

 

"As far as being a a genetic chimera go, I was a twin could this have any reference?"

 

It could. <handwave... handwave...>

It certainly need not, but at about the time of the first cell and embryonic divisions and multiple implantations, is when chimerism might well set in. If your twin is fraternal, that does at least mean that at least one extra zygote was around (after all it did implant, or you could not have had that twin!)

 

If there was another zygote united with yours, Bob's your uncle. Or whatever...  You would never know it unless you took some rather advanced and no doubt costly genetic tests to establish it. After all, the condition is not generally bad news or anything (unless you had for years been hankering after another  brother!)

 

And don't go getting all resentful of your notional (and hypothetical) brother, for goodness' sake! Which one of you would you blame...?  :-) Remember, never mind the genetic facts, you are just one person.

 

"...also a bout of measels when I was young has caused a significant level of deafness" 

 

Hard luck on that one!

 

"could this also of affected my sight in this perculiar way?"

 

(Still handwaving frantically) certainly.  Measles can affect eyesight. It can cause blindness. I don't minimise the harm that your ears suffered, but as you can tell, there was worse that could have befallen. Much as spots affect some parts of your skin tissues rather than others, it is quite possible for only one eye to get hit. Virus bloweth where it listeth. When I got mumps I got it on one side only. It is quite possible that cones on one side got damaged somewhat before your immune system gained proper control and saved the other eye from harm.

 

But yet again, this is speculation.

 

Sorry!

Jon

sssss
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Tags: colourblind, Eyes.

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posted on 2010-10-12 14:47:52 | Report abuse


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StewartH status says:

The numbers of rods and red green and blue cones in the eye are different from one person to another. The ratios between them are also different. It is even possible for people to have four types of cones rather than three, I think that this is more likely in women than men. I see no reason why an individuals two eyes should not be different, after all our left and right feet and hands are not the same size.

If you had a higher propaortion of green cones in one eye than the other this may account for what you see,

 

sssss
 (1 vote) average rating:5

Tags: colourblind, Eyes.

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posted on 2010-10-12 23:49:57 | Report abuse


 
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