heterochromia can be one of those beautiful stunning genetic mutations of the eye that
causes one eye to be a different color than the other one in this video we're going to
go over the details of heterochromia and if this is something that you've acquired
later in life you have one eye that has turned a different color you definitely
want to watch this video because it could be something concerning let's focus in
hey howdy everybody this is Dr. Neal Guymon, Dr. EyeGuy, and i do videos all about the eyes to help
you with your eyes if this is something you're interested in make sure you hit that subscribe
button and the bell to make sure you don't miss any of my future videos now let's focus on
heterochromia the first type of heterochromia is called complete heterochromia or heterochromia
iridum where you have a completely different color on one eye than the other one another type of
heterochromia is called partial heterochromia segmental or sectoral heterochromia but also
known as heterochromia iridus and that's where you maybe have brown eyes but maybe on one eye
there's a little section or a little wedge that is a different color maybe it's blue or green then
there's something called central heterochromia where maybe the central ring of the iris is
a different color and the further out to the periphery it goes it morphs into a different color
of virus as well now most of the time when you see a heterochromia it's a congenital condition
meaning that person was likely born with it or developed it really soon right after birth and
this is actually a rare condition only about 200 000 people in america actually have this condition
that's six and ten thousand people and so the population in the world less than one percent
of the people have heterochromia now this genetic condition actually affects the melanin that's in
the iris that's what gives the eye its color so you'll have one eye that might have less melanin
or less pigment in that eye compared to the other eye a congenital heterochromia is actually pretty
exciting to see as a doctor because it's so rare it's pretty fun to actually see patients that have
this groovy genetic mutation now usually when people are born with heterochromia it doesn't
mean that they have any other health problems or eye problems it's not a symptom of a condition
it's just a genetic mutation now that being said there are certain conditions that also can
have the symptom of heterochromia and there are a bunch of conditions i'll kind of list them on the
screen here so you can kind of pause the screen and go over those but yeah there's definitely
possibilities where you can have a heterochromia that might be linked or might be a symptom of
something else going on there's actually a few famous celebrities that have a heterochromia
superman henry cavill actually has a partial or sectoral heterochromia in one of his eyes
kate bosworth a lot of people think that david bowie has a heterochromia but his is something
different he actually had an injury in one of his eyes that causes pupil to dilate and so his pupil
makes his eye look darker than his other bright blue eye so it's actually something completely
different now if you've developed a heterochromia or a different eye color compared to the other eye
that's where it can be concerning because it could be a sign of some other eye condition or
health problem going on and the list of possible conditions that are linked to heterochromia later
in life is pretty extensive as well i'll put the list on the screen so you can look over those
but it can be linked to eye injury eye surgery bleeding in the eye eye swelling like uveitis
iritis it can be linked to something called fuchs heterochromic cyclitis which is also a big one
certain glaucoma medications can change the eye color latisse which is a glaucoma medication
that's been adapted to eye lash growth that can also darken your eye color if you have bright
blue eyes you might not want to use latisse now if you have developed a heterochromia later in life
you definitely want to go in and get an eye exam a full comprehensive eye exam to check the health
of the eyes because mainly the treatment for heterochromia is to treat the underlying condition
treat what has caused the heterochromia and the heterochromia can be a blaring symptom
a blurring sign that something else is going on if you happen to be one of those rare people less
than one percent of the population that actually has a heterochromia please comment below i'm
kind of curious to see how many people actually watch this that actually have a heterochromia
and thanks for watching that whole video if you like this type of video definitely hit
that like button for me i'm Dr. Neal Guymon, Dr. EyeGuy, focusing on you and your eyes stay focused
and make sure you check out my other videos right there and i'll see you in the next video