<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> Well, This time I really am in over my head. Years ago I knew that color deficiency was a recessive gene related to the sex chromosome (have I got the terms right so far?), but I'd forgotten it. That being the case, the celiac gene is somewhere else on the long line of chromosomes, so there is no particular chance that they are related, and anyone - ANYONE -out there who knows more than I do about such things is more than welcome to correct me. Meanwhile, I'll summarize the responses that have come in, as they are rather interesting. My non-celiac son (19) is red and green colorblind. His non-celiac paternal grandfather is also, yet they blame it on me, the mother, also non-celiac. Janet in Modesto Calif. I remember from biology classes that red/green colour deficiency is on your sex chromosomes and that it is very difficult to get a red/green deficient female (very common in males). I believe it is carried on the X chromosome, so the only way for you to have inherited this is to have both your mother and your father having this on their X chromosome - it wouldn't necessarily have shown up in your mother because this is a recessive gene and her other chromosome might have had the dominant one. The way to trace it back would be to find out if your mother's father was also colour blind or somebody in her mother's line would have had to been - just that it wasn't usually diagnosed back then. So I don't think it is linked to cd, but since cd is heritable, you probably get cd in a similar way to getting colour deficiency. Okay, my brain hurts now, too much biology, not enough chemistry. Hope this helps explain your genetics! Rebecca No. However, for some reason I consciously, always CRAVE strong, deep colors, so maybe I am feeling like I don't see them right. Also, I cannot "locate" a color in my mind -- I am never sure what to name a color, and I seldom agree with the name other people give specific colors in conversation, so I suspect I don't see them the same as others do. ALSO, this "color deficiency" was recently a discussion thread on a mailing list of autistic people and others with similar neurological problems. GUESS WHAT? There is a connection between autism and celiac disease in many more people than chance alone would produce. And both autism and celiac seem to be more genetic than otherwise. So we seem to have a thread that needs someone to pursue it and find out what the connections are. Unfortunately I am doing caretaking for a 73-year-old who broke her leg and I can't sit on the 'net all day to figure this out. I hope you can! Patty At age 47, I was diagnosed last month as gluten sensitive/CD. About 20 years ago I was also diagnosed as being color blind, but cannot remember to what colors (my wife is my color-coordinator for my work/church attire though). Interesting post. Peace. mi I am definitely not color deficient, but am very interested in the replies you get, as I work with color. Please summarize! Thanks Nancy in nyc interesting that you think about the color/CD connection because I am told that I have a 'wonderful sense of color' and I feel it ... color is very important in my life. On the male side of my family my son, and uncles have color 'deficiencies' but not the red/green one. And among the women there is always that argument "It's torquoise blue" "No, no! It's torquoise green" You might be onto something here! Valerie, California Interesting. Is there any self-test to determine this? Chuck The test is simple. There are many cards with designs made of colored dots. If you have normal color vision you see numbers in the dot design. If your color vision is not normal you will not see the numbers. Any book in your local library about vision would likely have copies of the number charts and the answers, so you don't need to see an opthamologist to know the answer. GK I have celiac disease and also have a color problem. Mine seems to be more of a problem with yellow. I see greens as blue, can't distinguish shades of apricot/pink/orange, could not see a large pink patch painted on a yellow wall, and also could not see the big yellow splotches my oil painting teacher said I had in the middle of my painting! I saw an eye doctor but he could not detect it. He said there a many many color problems and most people don't notice them. I'm looking forward to the summary. Kelly I am a celiac for 20 years and now that you mention it I am also red/green def......Interesting! Bob Interesting idea. My maternal grandfather was colorblind, although I don't know the details. My son, age 29, is colorblind, and the doctor explained to me how he couldn't see the difference in red and green when they are at the same intensity level. I don't know if this qualifies him as red/green deficient or not. The same doctor said about 10% of all men are "color blind" and that is why many of them have trouble coordinating shirts, ties, etc. He has not been tested for celiac, and is not interested at this time. I am the celiac, and am a professional wardrobe and color consultant. I choose shades of colors, from 2000 samples, to be the most attractive and flattering for a person to wear. This is not a seasonal approach, but based on the individual's own hair, eye, blush, and skin coloring. So no two people are the same. My eye is capable of selecting ane eliminating subtle shades. When I was doing some training in 1984, I remember being told that the human eye can discern more shades of red than any other color. I think this is why women have so much trouble wearing red lipstick with red clothes. Quite often we see lipstick that clashes with the clothing coloring. I always wonder if they know what a horrible sight it is. Of course, our body chemistry changes the shade from the tube slightly, so it is hard to select the correct shade sometimes. This is one reason it is handy to have a color palette in your purse, to help you make selections. So, this theory is pretty interesting to me. I will be curious to find out if there appears to be any correlation. I am sure you will get some opinions! I will be out of the country from Sunday until early October. But my message will collect while I am gone. Anne in San Antonio blue/green color deficiency seems to run in our family, for what it's worth since i'm not diagnosed CD. I'll look forward to your summary on this! Mary R Interesting. I (the gluten intolerant one in the family) am not red-green color blind (that I know of!) My father, however, is. Sally