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HowToPreventHeartDisease.com |
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Will Eye Reveal Signs Of Heart Disease? William Shakespeare once said, “The eyes are the window to your soul!” In reality, the eyes can actually reveal early warning signs about one’s health. By looking into the eye, doctors may actually determine whether a person is at risk of many health risks including heart disease and stroke. For instance, small yellow patches around the eyes are actually cholesterol deposits, and about half of the time, those bumpy eye patches are the only warning signs of a serious heart problem. Studies have suggested that regular eye examination can spot cardiovascular disease. This is because the eyes could reveal symptoms of the condition sooner than they show in the body. A narrowing of the blood vessels, ballooning of the blood vessels, and swelling located at the base of the optic nerve are some of the symptoms of cardiovascular disease. According to Harvard studies, individuals with changes in blood vessels of the eyes due to high blood pressure were found to be 2 to 4 times more likely to suffer from a stroke. They are also found to be at a higher risk of heart attack and heart failure. During the November 2013 annual meeting of the American Heart Association, researchers from Johns Hopkins University reported that micro-damage to the tiny blood vessels of the eyes could link to a higher risk of a common heart rhythm disorder. By following more than 10,000 middle-aged people for about 14 years, they found that people who had damage at the microvascular level (in the smallest blood vessels) of their eyes were at higher risk for developing a heart rhythm disorder called atrial fibrillation. Being common in older people, atrial fibrillation can lead to strokes and other problems. The study indicated that about 6 out of every 1,000 people with no microvascular disease (MVD) developed atrial fibrillation, rose to about 9 out of every 1,000 for people with micro-bleeds or micro-aneurysms in the smaller vessels of the eye's retina. That number rose again to almost 17 per 1,000 people for those with signs of vessel damage in the kidneys, and to more than 24 per 1,000 in people who had vessel damage in both the eyes and kidneys.
MVD, as suggested by the study, may be a trigger for developing atrial fibrillation, though it is not clear why. While it can be difficult to spot MVD in the heart, the eyes are a convenient place to look for. In addition to atrial fibrillation, MVD raises the likelihood for a heart attack. According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), there are a few heart-related eye conditions that include cataracts, retinopathy, transient ischemic attacks, branch retinal vein occlusion, and age-related macular degeneration (AMD). AMD, in particular, may be linked to the health of the heart. A paper published in the March 2015 ‘British Journal of Ophthalmology’ by Australian researchers found that the more severe a person's coronary artery disease (CAD), the more likely they were to develop vision loss from AMD, after they reviewed health and vision information from more than 1,600 people. AMD affects the macula (the center of the retina), and can cause vision loss. Luckily, these eye diseases can be prevented. Even if one already has them, he or she can take steps to stop them from getting worse. Heart-disease risk factors like smoking and high blood pressure, also correlate with AMD, according to research published in 2014 in the journal ‘Retina’. Hence lifestyle changes that protect the heart could also help protect the vision from AMD. Things like treating high blood pressure, stopping smoking, losing weight and knowing one’s family history can help prevent eye diseases such as MVD and AMD. However, one should take note that medications used to treat heart disease and eye diseases are quite different and might interact. People should, therefore, let the cardiologist and eye specialist know what regular medications, any over-the-counter agents or even herbal or dietary supplements they take.
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