Naked Science Forum
Life Sciences => Physiology & Medicine => Topic started by: neilep on 30/12/2007 15:33:08
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Dear Ocular Specialists,
Eyes are great aren't they ?..They are my all time favourite organ for seeing things with !...good on ya eyes !!
Here's some.....just to jog your memory !!
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I was wondering if there is any correlation whatsoever at all that is indicative of any kind of physiological, physical, biological, neurological condition linked to eye colour !! ??
I realise blue eyes may lead to fairer skin which would then as a consequence lead to being prone to sunburn and then potentially skin cancer !!.....etc etc..........but are there any other links like this ?.....
Ta
Hugs
neil
xxxxxx
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what about a pink or white eye! what about someone who is a true albino.. like this describes their eyes!
http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/natbltn/400-499/nb442.htm
True Albinos, such as in man, show an almost total lack of pigment in
their skin, hair and eyes. The eyes, however, appear pink or red because
the blood vessels in the iris and retina reflect light, whereas in normally
colored individuals they are hidden by pigment. Albino people have
very defective vision and their eyes are extremely sensitive to light.
They habitually squint, blink, and should wear dark glasses. The skin is
very white and never tans, so that sunburn is much more serious than in
ordinary blondes.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/1209045.stm
People with light-coloured eyes are over five times more likely to go deaf if they get meningitis than those with dark eyes, according to research.
Scientists found a link between pigmentation and ear damage - suggesting that the more pigmentation a person has, the better their inner-ear is protected.
But researcher Helen Cullington, a scientist at the Hearing and Balance Centre, based at the University of Southampton, admits her findings need a lot more work to establish their full value in the fight against meningitis.
Ms Cullington studied the eye colour of 130 deaf patients aged between two and 80 and found that those with light coloured eyes, such as grey, blue, green and hazel were more at risk.
Ms Cullington found that out of 98 patients whose deafness was not caused by meningitis 27% had dark eyes and 73% had light eyes.
But among the 32 people who were deafened by meningitis the split was much more pronounced - just 6% had dark eyes and 94% had light eyes.
Survival rates
Ms Cullington said: "The difference in proportions of eye colour between the survivors of meningitis and the UK adult population was significant.
"The odds ratio showed that people with light eyes were 5.8 times as likely to be deafened by meningitis than those with dark eyes."
But in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) research pointer Ms Cullington admitted the same research could also point to the fact that people with dark coloured eyes have a poorer survival rate from meningitis.
She also suggested that people with light coloured eyes are more likely to contract meningitis than those with dark eyes.
A spokeswoman from the Meningitis Research Foundation said more research was needed before the value of this research is known.
"It is certainly interesting and anything that can give us more help and information about meningitis is invaluable."
But she said the BMJ study had been on a very limited number of people and that it was impossible to draw conclusions from this.
The above is not really that surprising, since melanin is important to the inner ear.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melanin
In humans, melanin is found in skin, hair, the pigmented tissue underlying the iris, the medulla and zona reticularis of the adrenal gland, the stria vascularis of the inner ear, and in pigment bearing neurons of certain deep brain nuclei such as the locus ceruleus and the substantia nigra. Melanin is the primary determinant of human skin color.
The connection between albinism and deafness has been well known, though poorly understood, for more than a century-and-a-half. In his 1859 treatise On the Origin of Species, Charles Darwin observed that "cats which are entirely white and have blue eyes are generally deaf". In humans, hypopigmentation and deafness occur together in the rare Waardenburg's syndrome, predominantly observed among the Hopi in North America. The incidence of albinism in Hopi Indians has been estimated as approximately 1 in 200 individuals. Interestingly, similar patterns of albinism and deafness have been found in other mammals, including dogs and rodents. However, a lack of melanin per se does not appear to be directly responsible for deafness associated with hypopigmentation, as most individuals lacking the enzymes required to synthesize melanin have normal auditory function. Instead the absence of melanocytes in the stria vascularis of the inner ear results in cochlear impairment, though why this is is not fully understood. It may be that melanin, the best sound absorbing material known, plays some protective function. Alternately, melanin may affect development, as Darwin suggests.
In Parkinson's disease, a disorder that affects neuromotor functioning, there is decreased neuromelanin in the substantia nigra as consequence of specific dropping out of dopaminergic pigmented neurons. This results in diminished dopamine synthesis. While no correlation between race and the level of neuromelanin in the substantia nigra has been reported, the significantly lower incidence of Parkinson's in blacks than in whites has "prompt[ed] some to suggest that cutaneous melanin might somehow serve to protect the neuromelanin in substantia nigra from external toxins.". Also see Nicolaus review article on the function of neuromalanins
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Gosh !...I was about to post a new thread about eye colour when I remembered this thread.
Thank you to Karen and George for the wonderful information. I did read the info last time but was remiss in my thanks.
I was wondering, are there ever any cases of red eyes, yellow eyes, purple eyes ?.......I don't mean in relation to an ailment...I mean as the actual colour ?
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your welcome. what about the pink and red that is common in albino's...I have also seen eyes without fake lens that were more asoft violet color.