How the Eyes Can Reveal a Lot About Your General Health - Instagram Expansion Post

While a foundational purpose of your eyes is to provide you with the ability to see, the eyes do much more than this. Surprisingly, they can be used as an indicator of your body's overall state of health.

By simply looking at your eye, an eye doctor can determine whether or not you are experiencing an array of medical irregularities. These may include cases of high blood pressure, clogged arteries, diabetes, or even arthritis!

Cardiovascular health is often analyzed by looking directly at the life-sustaining organ: the heart. However, the eyes can also reveal a great amount about high blood pressure. Increased blood pressure may cause damage to the eye's primary source of blood, characterized by blurred vision or bleeding in the eye. When looking at your eye, an eye doctor will compare the size of your retinal arteries to the size of your retinal veins. If this ratio is abnormal, high blood pressure may be the culprit.

Diabetes is an additional health condition that has a significant correlation with the eyes. As diabetes progresses, high blood sugar may impact the eye by creating issues in the eye's blood vessels. During an exam, an eye doctor may observe damaged blood vessels in the retina, the light-sensitive layer at the back of your eye. This damage, in the form of swelling or leaking, may cause blurred vision, and will allow the eye doctor to pinpoint whether you have diabetes.

Arthritis causes inflammation throughout the body, which will subsequently affect the eyes in some instances. Inflammation in the eye may cause dry eye, redness, and vision loss. A primary observation of these symptoms may lead an eye doctor to conclude if you are experiencing arthritis in the rest of your body.

To learn more about the relationship between the state of your eyes and your overall health, check out this article by the University of Chicago Medical Center!

https://www.uchicagomedicine.org/forefront/heart-and-vascular-articles/…

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