is it a deterioration, due to age, and years. if so what colours get mixed up. can you just develop it. or is it caused.

it is inherited

It is a trait carried on the x chromosome, thus it is inherited. It is permanent.

it is inherited, in fact they have used it to declare paternity in court before because it is a sex linked gene and it is only carried by the father. sadly it is permanent unless there is some kind of surgery they've come up with. you can not just develop it but it can get worse due to vision problems.

It IS hereditary. Not all people are blind to the same colors, so it varies from person to person. To my knowledge l do not think it is caused by anything, but l suppose if you were to be involved in a bad car accident and suffered brain injuries it might be possible to become color blind to some extent.

It is usually inherited & more likely in men than women. By far the most common is red/green colour blindness but there are various other types for more info go here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colour_blindness

Eight percent of men are color blind.

It can just happen. Or happen in one eye.

Every-body is eyes start to go in their 40's.

Wear SunTiger sunglasses (NASA approved).

Best regards.

It is usually genetic, typically affects males, & is permanent. But it can be cause by damage to the eye, too.

There r several types, including red/green, blue/yellow, total monochromacy, etc.

If you're interested, here is the entire article from Wikipedia:

Color blindness
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Color blindness
Classification & external resources
ICD-10 H53.5
ICD-9 368.5
DiseasesDB 2999
MeSH D003117
Color blindness, a color vision deficiency in animals, is the inability to perceive differences between some of the colors that others can distinguish. It is most often of genetic nature, but may also occur because of eye, nerve, or brain damage, or due to exposure to certain chemicals. The English chemist John Dalton in 1798 published the first scientific paper on the subject, ''Extraordinary facts relating to the vision of colours[1] after the realization of his own color blindness; because of Dalton is work, the condition is sometimes called Daltonism, although this term is now used for a type of color blindness called deuteranopia.

Color blindness is usually classed as disability; however, in selected situations color blind people have an advantage over people with normal color vision. There r some studies which conclude that color blind individuals r better at penetrating certain camouflages.[2] Monochromats may have a minor advantage in dark vision, but only in the first five & a half minutes of dark adaptation.


An 1895 illustration of normal vision & various kinds of color blindnessContents [hide]
1 Background
2 Causes
2.1 Genetic modes of inheritance
2.2 Other causes
2.3 Types
3 Classification of color deficiencies
3.1 By etiology
3.2 By clinical appearance
4 Congenital color vision deficiencies
4.1 Monochromacy
4.2 Dichromacy
4.3 Anomalous trichromacy
5 Clinical forms of color blindness
5.1 Total color blindness
5.2 Red-green color blindness
5.3 Blue-yellow color blindness
6 Prevalence
7 Diagnosis
8 Treatment & management
9 Design implications of color blindness
10 Misconceptions & compensations
11 See also
12 References
13 Bibliography
14 External links



Background
Main article: Trichromatic color vision
The normal human retina contains two kinds of light cells: the rod cells (active in low light) & the cone cells (active in normal daylight). Normally, there r three kinds of cones, each containing a different pigment. The cones r activated when the pigments absorb light. The absorption spectra of the cones differ; one is maximally sensitive to short wavelengths, one to medium wavelengths, & the third to long wavelengths (their peak sensitivities r in the blue, yellowish-green, & yellow regions of the spectrum, respectively). The absorption spectra of all three systems cover much of the visible spectrum, so it is not entirely accurate to refer to them as ''blue ''green'' & ''red'' receptors, especially because the ''red'' receptor actually has its peak sensitivity in the yellow. The sensitivity of normal color vision actually depends on the overlap between the absorption spectra of the three systems: different colors r recognized when the different types of cone r stimulated to different extents. Red light, for example, stimulates the long wavelength cones much more than either of the others, & reducing wavelength causes the other two cone systems to be increasingly stimulated, causing a gradual change in hue. Many of the genes involved in color vision r on the X chromosome, making color blindness more common in males than in females.


Causes
This section needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged & removed. (December 2007)

Any recessive genetic characteristic that persists at a level as high as 5% is generally regarded as possibly having some advantage over the long term.[dubious – discuss] In World War I l it was discovered that analysis of color aerial photos yielded more information if at least one team member was color blind. Significantly, humans r the only trichromatic primates with such a high percentage of color blindness.[3] As the color blind test example (next to analysis) demonstrates, color blind people see different patterns. WWI l teams that analyzed aerial photographs were looking for unusual patterns, so a color blind person could prove useful. From an evolutionary perspective a hunting group will be more effective if it includes a color blind hunter (one in twenty) who can spot prey that others cannot.

Another possible advantage might result from the presence of a tetrachromic female. Owing to X-chromosome inactivation, women who r heterozygous for anomalous trichromacy ought to have at least four types of cone in their retinae. It is possible that this affords them an extra dimension of color vision, by analogy to New World mon

It is a genetic condition more common in males than females due to the chromosome it is carried on.

See below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorblind

My Dad is colour blind but at the blue end of the spectrum. Just as well it is not the usual red green cos he is an electrician.!

You are born with it, l get blues greens and browns mixed up. easy colours are black and white lol

it is inherited.it is sex related disease.X chromosome have that gene so the women r carrier of that disease but not suffering from this cuz their healthy X overcome the problem.thatsy only male suffer from this becuase they have X and y.if they got carrier x from mother then father y nothing to do for him,bcz of this reason male is suffer from disease and the women r carrier of that

It is inherited, & permanent. It does not deteriorate, but once u know u have it u can learn to 'manage' it.

There r different types of colour blindness, the most common is red/green where green can appear red or brown but changes in different light. There is also blue/yellow which l think can be quite bad.

You can do colour blindness tests where u read coloured numbers made up of dots. (Although my husband who is red/green colour blind can cheat because he notices the patterns on the tests!)

Colour blindness or colour vision deficiency is an inherited condition. It is usually a permanent condition that may be present right from birth or may be realized a few years later.
It occurs more frequently in men than in women. The condition however does not deteriorate.
There r different types of colour blindness classified based on different means. it may be complete, partial, red -green colour blindness(most common) or blue-yellow colour blindness. Protanopia, deuteronopia & so on.you can refer to the following websites for more details.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorblind
http://toledo-bend.com/colorblind/aboutcb.html

It is inherited and it does not get better or worse in time.

You ask if color blindness is inherited, temporary, or permanent.

The :

Inherited? Yes and No. Your being a male would make it more likely to be inherited, but there are forms of color blindness that are acquired because of certain eye and nerve diseases.

Temporary or permanent? Yes and Yes. Temporary forms of color blindness are EXTREMELY rare. Most are permanent.

There are no absolutes here

Can be inherited & is permanent, more males than females are effected.

Good Luck. X :-)

l agree with Willow. Color blindness can be inherited or acquired. Men r more affected by the inherited type because it is carried on the X chromosome as others have said. Since they only have one X chromosome, if that chromosome is for color blindness, they will be color blind. Women have two X chromosomes, so as long as one of them is normal, she will not be color blind. If both of her X chromosomes r for color blindness, though, she will be color blind (so women r not JUST carriers). Inherited color blindness is usually a red-green blindness & is present in both eyes.

It can also be acquired through diseases & conditions. Acquired color blindness is usually of the blue-yellow type, can happen in just one eye, & the person will notice the change (he may report that the sky looks green or something like that).

There r also different degrees of color blindness (again as others have said). Some people just see different shades of colors than most people do (so red & green may just not be as vibrant as it is to other people). Or it may just be that they cannot tell the difference between red & green at all.

If one had a complete lack of cones (the cells in the eye that detect color), he or she would see in black & white.

Davids answer (number 7, ), is excellent & factual, but omits two rather important details, the first is that while no treatment exists, there is a solution, a lens manufactured in the States by a company called the x-chrom corporation (Boston Mass), by the late Dr Harry Seltzer, does exist, that can deal with this problem, l was one of the first people in Britain to try this lens, the results were truly astonishing, l suffer red/green problems, (but it can be made for other eye conditions), the original lens was only available in a hard form but is now available in an ultra soft lens, & bio-compatible forms r being tested as l write this.

The lens fits over one eye, & in my case was a red lens, worn on the weaker, (less dominant eye), the brain makes up a new set of colours from the differing vision of both eyes, it effectively blends the images it receives, into one harmonious whole, another aspect of colour blindness not mentioned, was the lack of true depth perception suffered by the colour blind, ( most things seem like photos & r really two dimensional in appearance), the lens causes one eye to have a picture , (in my case the red lens was not noticeable except in strong daylight, but if u have blue eyes it is clearly seen at all times, by others), ).

Being red, the image of red is heightened (it fluoresces, & green is darkened) , when l first wore it, it was Autumn, & l had seen it on the program ''Tomorrows World l had called up before the item was finished, & had it imported into England, where it was fitted by the late Morley. W. Ford, when the first fitting took place

l saw for the first time the true appearance of a tree, l nearly wept, for the first time in my life, there was a sense of life to it, that had never been present before,it was literally breathtaking, they had all seemed as lifeless as concrete buildings, there was depth & deep colours, that after testing confirmed that it had achieved perfect colour representation. & for some time after, the brains image, grows slowly in the appreciation of colour perception, as the brain becomes familiar with this new world, the reality of colour blindness is not appreciated by many as a problem, believe me when l say that it really is, & the cost of this lens, is now about £80 plus fitting, from Dolland & Aitchison, opticians, ( my last supersoft one, was fitted there, at The Parade, Sutton Coldfield), but is also available from other places, the first ,hard lens was a lot more than that, over 28 years ago !

It functions perfectly well under any type of light & is approved by the U.S. Air Force for use by pilots !

Nowadays l can not wear it because l have arthritis, ( which lowers tear production), but spectacles r made, that do a similar job, though not perfect, they r helpful, & can be obtained from an independant optician in Tamworth, Staffs, ( the name escapes me at this moment in time),

Lastly, there is also a problem for some people that suffer from ''colour confusion & another, less self explanatory, problem, that of ''Amterism.

Amterism also affects about 60% of people, it is the difficulty of seeing colours correctly, when they r illuminated by a different form or colour of lighting, i.e. those who need to take clothes to a shop window, to view them in natural light, & people who see cars change colour under some yellow, sodium lamps, in the streets, at night, r also sufferers, none of these r tested for by the Police for candidates, but should be, or for medical personnel,it is far more common than many realise & often confused with colour blindness, some times it may cause problems if people r unaware of it, & dealing with medical emergencies, under certain types of lighting.hope this helps, all sufferers, & l use that term knowing its full meaning !, bye ..

it is inherited...

My son is colourblind, my brother is too, also my granddad (mom is Dad)

There is two types of colourblindness, colours and shading, my son is unlucky enough to have it both together!

If my daughter has a son, it is more likely that he will have the colourblindness too...