5 Things an Eye Exam Can Reveal About Your Health
Optometrists evaluate much more than your ability to read the eye chart during your visit. They also look for subtle changes in your eyes that could mean you have a disease or health condition. Eye exams can uncover these five health issues:
High Cholesterol
High cholesterol increases your risk for heart attacks, heart failure, heart disease, and stroke. These conditions affect the network of blood vessels circulating blood throughout your body. Although none of these conditions usually cause symptoms in the early stages, your health can still be affected even if you feel fine.
If you have high cholesterol, your eye doctor might notice a white, blue, gray or yellow ring around the outer edge of your cornea. The clear cornea covers your iris and bends the light rays that enter your eyes. The ring may be complete or partial. Although these rings don't always mean you have high cholesterol, they can be a warning sign, particularly if you're younger than 40.
High Blood Pressure
High blood pressure affects your blood vessels and can be just as dangerous as high cholesterol. Potential signs of trouble include narrowed or swollen blood vessels or small clots in the vessels in your eyes. A clot may be small enough that you never notice symptoms. In some cases, clots can cause blurry vision. Clots may also prevent blood from flowing to the optic nerve, the pathway to the brain, and can cause permanent damage and loss of vision.
Choroidopathy, the build-up of fluid under the retina, can also occur due to high blood pressure. The condition can distort your vision or create scars that interfere with your eyesight, according to the American Heart Association.
Diabetes
Your eye doctor also looks for signs of diabetic retinopathy during your exam. Diabetic retinopathy affects more than 9 million people in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Almost 2 million people have diabetic retinopathy that's so severe that it threatens their vision.
Diabetic retinopathy happens when your blood sugar level is consistently too high. Glucose clogs the blood vessels in the light-sensitive retina, restricting blood flow. Leaking blood or fluids from the blocked blood vessels may cause blurry vision. Your eyes may also form new blood vessels if a vessel becomes completely blocked. Unfortunately, these new vessels are often weak and prone to leaking.
Swelling in the lens, the clear structure inside your eye behind the iris and pupil, may occur if you have high blood sugar. The swelling can cause blurry vision that improves once your blood sugar level drops to a normal level.
Thyroid Disease
Protruding eyes could be a sign that you have thyroid eye disease, which most often affects people whose hyperthyroidism is caused by Graves' disease. This autoimmune disease occurs when the thyroid gland produces an excessive amount of thyroid hormone. In addition to protruding eyes, thyroid eye disease may cause dry or red eyes, grittiness, tearing, double vision, or sensitivity to light.
You may have hyperthyroidism and not be aware that anything is wrong. Early symptoms, like difficulty sleeping, trouble concentrating, and nervousness or anxiety, can easily be dismissed as stress symptoms. During your exam, your eye doctor may notice that your eyes have begun to bulge slightly even if you haven't experienced any noticeable symptoms of thyroid disease.
Autoimmune Disorders
Other autoimmune disorders can also be detected during your annual visits to the optometrist. Ankylosing spondylitis, an inflammatory type of arthritis, may cause changes to your irises. Fifty percent of people with ankylosing spondylitis develop iritis (inflammation of the iris) or uveitis (inflammation of the middle layer of the eye) at least once, according to the Spondylitis Association of America.
Eye changes may be among the early signs of other autoimmune diseases, including lupus, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis.
Protect your health with an annual visit to the optometrist! Contact our office to schedule your eye exam.
Sources:
American Heart Association: How High Blood Pressure Can Lead to Vision Loss, 5/8/2024
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Prevalence Estimates for Diabetic Retinopathy (DR), 5/15/2024
https://www.cdc.gov/vision-health-data/prevalence-estimates/dr-prevalence.html#
Spondylitis Association of America: Iritis or Anterior Uveitis
https://spondylitis.org/about-spondylitis/possible-complications/iritis-or-anterior-uveitis/
Prevention: 3 Serious Health Conditions Your Eye Doctor Can Detect, 9/14/2021
https://www.prevention.com/health/health-conditions/a37387204/health-conditions-eye-exam/
The Healthy: 6 Surprising Diseases That Eye Doctors Find First, 8/7/2020
https://www.thehealthy.com/eye-care/shocking-diseases-eye-doctors-find-first/