According to researchers at Stanford Medicine, differences in vision are rarely included in overall patient assessments, even though they may influence when a person reacts to symptoms and contacts the healthcare system.
Color blindness is an example of a widespread condition that many people live with without having an official diagnosis or having it noted in their medical records.
The condition occurs most frequently among men and often remains undetected throughout life.
As a result, color blindness is rarely considered in the diagnostic process, even though the ability to perceive visual signs can be crucial in several diseases.
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Color blindness and cancer
A new study published in Nature Health is based on analyses of electronic patient records from the TriNetX database.
According to the researchers, patients with both color blindness and cancer were compared with similar patients who have normal color vision.
Previous research has shown that blood in urine or stool is more often overlooked by people with color vision deficiencies.
According to Nature Health, this may mean that contact with the healthcare system is delayed and that disease is detected at a later stage.
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The consequences
According to the study, patients with bladder cancer and color blindness had a 52 percent higher overall mortality rate over 20 years than other patients.
For colorectal cancer, no similar difference was found, partly due to widespread screening.
The study’s senior author, Ehsan Rahimy, told Stanford Medicine that the aim is to raise awareness.
The point is that individual differences can have serious consequences if they are not taken into account during diagnosis.
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Sources: SciTechDaily, Nature Health, and Stanford Medicine.
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