5 things your eyes can reveal about your health

Post on 26th October 2015

Getting your eyes checked frequently is not only important for your vision but it can also save your life too.

Optometrists, such as our team of professionals at Scrivens Opticians & Hearing Care, are not only trained to detect problems with your eyesight, but they can detect a number of health conditions from diabetes to heart conditions and from tumours to Vitamin A deficiency.

Common problems such as a twitchy eye, could just be tiredness but it could also indicate low blood sugar.  Blurred vision and eye pain, could indicate you need glasses, but it could mean you are at risk of an aneurysm.  That’s why at Scrivens Opticians & Hearing Care we are urging people to ‘get themselves seen’ regularly with their local optician.

Scrivens optometrist, Paul Sidhu, said: “Our eyes tell us so much about our overall wellbeing and that is why it’s so important to have annual sight tests.  We look at everything from eye movement patterns to the veins in the back of the eye, dark spots and the state of the optic nerve, and much more. We also urge people to tell us of any changes to their vision, this coupled with the eye test, can help us make a more accurate diagnosis and recommendations.”

Here are five health conditions an optometrist can detect from an eye test:

1. An eye test can tell whether you are at risk of diabetes based on the retinal vascular changes and blood vessel patterns in your eyes.

2. High blood pressure. Hypertension is an indicator of other conditions, such as heart disease. An optometrist will pick up on whether you need to have your blood pressure checked by looking at the veins and arteries located in the back of your eye.

3. Optometrists may be one of the few people who can tell if you are at risk of an aneurysm. If you tell your optician that you are experiencing blurred vision, headaches or pain in your eye, this can alert them to the fact that something more serious might be present. They will be able to investigate whether you have a swollen optic nerve, pressure in your eye or bleeding in the eye.

4. Not enough Vitamin A. People who eat balanced diets are at little risk of a vitamin A deficiency, but if you are not getting enough fruit and vegetables in your diet, or a sufficiently varied selection of them, you might be lower than you should be in your vitamin A stores. An optometrist will be able to tell if you are lacking by the condition of the surface of your eye.

5. Since heart disease affects both men and women but is known to be a silent killer, it is useful to know that an optometrist is able to detect cholesterol at its earlier stages. The giveaway is the fatty deposits that can be yellow in appearance and form on the eyelids. They don’t cause discomfort but they are a sign of things not being optimal in your heart’s health.

To arrange an eye test at your nearest Scrivens Opticians & Hearing Care branch, visit our home page.