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How Much Do You Know About Eye Color and Your Health?

Take our quick quiz to see how much you know about the color of your orbs

Hallie Levine,

Updated November 29, 2022

AARP

En español

Published October 14, 2022

/ Updated November 29, 2022

10 Questions

b462cead-0a1a-4ee6-8847-9f79498a52f5

How Much Do You Know About Eye Color and Your Health?

[ {
 "question" : "What's the rarest eye color?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "Brown",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Blue",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Green",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "Hazel",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "Only about 2 percent of the world’s population sports this shade.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "What was the first eye color?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "Blue",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Green",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Hazel",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Brown",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "Just 10,000 years ago, all humans had brown eyes. As they migrated north to Europe, a gene mutation occurred to reduce melanin production, leading to blue, green or hazel eyes.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "If you have brown eyes, you’re most at risk for:\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "Skin cancer",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Cataracts",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "Macular degeneration",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Diabetic retinopathy",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "A 2014 review of studies in JAMA Ophthalmology found that darker eye color is linked to an increased risk of cataracts. But brown eyes have a lot of pigment, which appears to be protective against skin cancer, macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "Which of these celebrities does/did NOT have two different-colored eyes?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "Mila Kunis",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Kate Bosworth",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Kiefer Sutherland",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "David Bowie",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "The first three reportedly have heterochromia, or different-colored eyes, which occurs in less than 1 percent of the population. Bowie reportedly had anisocoria — different-sized pupils — due to an injury.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "True or false? Elizabeth Taylor had violet eyes.\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "True",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "False",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "Though Elizabeth Taylor made headlines with her mythical violet eyes, her eyes were in fact blue. Blue eyes can appear as assorted colors based on lighting conditions.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "What medication(s) can cause eye color changes?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "Blood pressure meds such as beta blockers",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Diabetes drug metformin",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Prostaglandins to treat glaucoma",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "Statins for high cholesterol",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "Prostaglandins can cause permanent eye color changes, usually making eyes darker.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "Which of these conditions can cause you to be born with red eyes?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "Albinism",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "Heterochromia",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Cataracts",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Uveitis",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "People with albinism have little to no melanin in their skin, hair and irises, which means their eyes may appear pink or red because the blood vessels are visible.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "Which of these is NOT an age-related reason your eyes might change color? \n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "Cataracts",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Arcus senilis",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Diabetes",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "Horner’s syndrome",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "Cataracts — a clouding of the eye lens that can make your eye look milky white — and arcus senilis — a hazy blue, gray or white ring on the cornea caused by a buildup of lipids — are common in older adults. Horner’s syndrome — a condition in which a nerve pathway from your brain to your head and neck is disrupted — can cause one pupil to look lighter.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "Which of these genes helps determine your eye color?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "HER7",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "OCA2",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "MC1R",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "APOE4",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "About 75 percent of eye color is due to OCA2. It makes melanin, a substance in your body that produces hair, eye and skin pigmentation.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "True or false? You can predict a child’s (or grandchild’s) eye color based on their parents.\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "True",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "False",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "There are at least eight different genes that influence eye color. That’s why parents who have the same color eyes can have a child who has a different eye color.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
} ]

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How Much Do You Know About Eye Color and Your Health?

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Hallie Levine is a contributing writer and an award-winning medical and health reporter. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Consumer Reports, Real Simple, Health and Time, among other publications.