- The amazing eye gets it’s colour from the light absorbing pigment found at the back of the iris body.
| Eye colour |
Pigment colour |
| Brown |
Brown pigment is called melanin. The greater the amount of melanin, the darker the eyes look. |
| Blue |
The iris has a colourless body so when white light passes through, blue light is scattered making the eye blue in color. |
| Green |
The presence of some yellow pigment called xanthin combined with the scattered blue light gives the color green. |
| Pink |
Absence of melanin. Since there is no pigment to shield, the blood vessels in the iris make the eye appear pink in color. Occurs in albinos. |
- Eye color is determined by multiple genes. The eye color genes include EYCL1 (a green/blue eye color gene located on chromosome 19), EYCL2 (a brown eye color gene) and EYCL3 (a brown/blue eye color gene located on chromosome 15).
- Heterochromia iridis refers to a person who has a different iris color for each eye. Sectoral heterochromia iridis refers to a difference in color within an iris.
- A pink or red eye, also known as conjunctivitis refers to a redness of the membranes on the inner part of the eyelids and the membranes (conjuctiva) coating the whites of the eyes (sclera).
Irritation affecting these membranes can be caused by virus, bacteria, toxic chemicals or an underlying health condition (e.g. rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus and Crohn’s disease).
- Yellow staining of the sclera is due to an abnormal high levels of the bile pigment bilirubin in the blood. A sign of jaundice.
- A black eye is the bruising around the eye area.
Chapter: Eye Care :: 3 May 2007
