You may think that you need an eye exam that your prescription may be have changed. However, an eye exam will check more than just eye healthy. Comprehensive eye exams play an important role in your overall wellness, and you should get one every year for optimal vision health. Besides measuring your vision, regular eye exams can help identify early signs of certain chronic health conditions, including high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease and high cholesterol. Optometrists or ophthalmologists can detect early signs of heart disease during preventive eye exams. Through careful examination of the retina, your eye doctor can view small changes in the blood vessels in the back of the eye, which can indicate more serious systemic disease. Due to their enormous demand for oxygen, tiny retinal blood vessels can be easily damaged by high blood pressure.In fact, the eye is the only area on the body where doctors can get an unobstructed view of blood vessels in the human body. More and more research is showing that the type and severity of changes in the retina can be predictors for intensity of cardiovascular disease including stroke, high blood pressure and even heart failure. Recent advancements such as digital retinal imaging allow your eye doctor to quickly and painlessly detect and monitor blood flow in your retina.
