Can Heart Disease Affect My Vision?
It’s been said for millennia that eyes are a window to the soul — but what if the eyes are also a window to other potential issues, like cardiovascular health? According to a plethora of sources, sudden changes in vision can not only be a harbinger of issues with the eyes. It can also mean early signs of changes in heart health.
“The eyes are a window into our health, and many diseases can manifest in the eye; cardiovascular disease is no exception,” said Mathieu Bakhoum, MD, PhD, a physician-scientist and retina surgeon at UC San Diego Health.
Dr. Bakhoum served as lead author on a UCSD study (cited by the American Academy of Ophthalmology) which claims that people with heart disease have retinas marked by evidence of a phenomenon called “eye stroke,” when the eye is deprived of blood flow and oxygen.
“Ischemia, which is decreased blood flow caused by heart disease, can lead to inadequate blood flow to the eye and may cause cells in the retina to die, leaving behind a permanent mark,” Dr. Bakhoum said after the study was published. “We termed this mark ‘retinal ischemic perivascular lesions,’ or RIPLs, and sought to determine if this finding could serve as a biomarker for cardiovascular disease.”
A recent Harvard Health article shared that sudden vision changes can also foreshadow future health complications, including cardiovascular disease. Blurriness, yellowish bumps around the eyes, and pulsating pupils are a few potential warning signs for risk of stroke or hypertension.
According to the AAO, “the eye is the only place in the body where a doctor can see the live action of blood vessels, nerves and connecting tissue without relying on an invasive procedure.” That’s why eye doctors are quite frequently the first to detect warning signs of health issues outside the scope of eye health.
This is not to say that vision changes should sound off the alarm bells — it simply means that consistent, annual eye exams could do more than just protect your eyes.
Getting the eyes checked can help protect against creeping health issues like high blood pressure, other types of cardiovascular disease, and more. For more information on where to look for an eye exam or learn what to expect at an exam, read our article on the topic!
