Eye exams don’t just catch eye diseases. They aren’t limited to just your eyes but are about your overall health too. You might not know it, but your eyes allow people to see many things about your body. When eye doctors examine your eyes, they can see nerves, blood vessels, and connective tissues, all of which help them detect other health issues.

High Blood Pressure

Almost half (47%) of American adults have high blood pressure. This condition can lead to stroke, heart attack, and other more serious illnesses if they aren’t treated. Hypertension is also one of the health issues that an optometrist can detect when they examine your eyes. It’s found through the blood vessels in the back of the eyes. It’s vital to control your high blood pressure, or it can lead to various eye conditions like glaucoma.

Diabetes

Millions of Americans have diabetes, and most don’t even realize it. Not knowing they have diabetes is dangerous as it can lead to complications, including developing diabetic retinopathy. Eye doctors can detect that you have diabetes through a comprehensive eye exam. They can identify it when you show signs of diabetic retinopathy, an eye condition that causes damage to the retina’s blood vessels.

High Cholesterol

In addition to blood pressure, a comprehensive eye exam can also discover if you have high cholesterol levels. Eye doctors can determine your cholesterol levels through the yellow or blue ring around your cornea. Your blood vessels in the retina could also have deposits left that tell the optometrist you have high cholesterol levels. Sometimes, the eye doctor can tell if you’re about to have a stroke due to high cholesterol.

Brain Tumor

Tumors create intense pressure in the brain transmitted to the eye, causing eye pain. It can cause swelling at the back of the eyes, causing changes to the optic nerve. Your eye doctor can see this during the eye exam, giving them the idea that you might have a tumor. Besides the swelling, brain tumors also cause loss of side vision, changes in the pupil’s size, double vision, and painful headaches.

Heart Disease

Eye doctors can discover early signs of heart disease when they examine your eyes, particularly the retina. They can do this using optical coherence tomography, an imaging tool that can see microscopic marks resulting from eye stroke. While these marks can appear on healthy people, they are most often found in those at risk of developing a heart condition. Your eyes can also display signs of ischemia or decreased blood flow caused by heart disease.

Cancer

A comprehensive eye exam can detect cancers. Your eyelids and the eye’s outer surfaces can indicate skin cancer. Eye exams can discover if you have melanoma, squamous cell, or basal cell – the most common forms of skin cancers. Two other types of eye cancers are lymphoma and leukemia. Both affect the eye’s interior parts. An eye exam can catch the disease early on.

Since eye doctors can detect health issues through the eyes’ condition, it is crucial to undergo routine eye exams. A comprehensive eye exam can catch eye conditions and other health problems before it’s too late.

Schedule an eye exam at Vision Source Grove Heights today. Call us at (346) 782-0288 or visit our clinic in Houston, Texas.