3 Health Problems That Can Affect Your Eyesight
Eyesight is a valuable thing. If you are born with it, you want to do everything you can in order to keep it. However, sometimes your health can get in the way. Not only are there eye-specific health conditions that can harm your vision, but health problems that begin in other parts of your body can also affect it. Here are three health problems that can cause problems with your eyesight.
1. Diabetes.
Diabetes can wreak havoc on your entire body. Most people know that it affects their kidneys and causes issues with circulation in their feet and lower legs, but it also can cause many problems with your eyes.
Not only can uncontrolled diabetes cause diabetic retinopathy, which is where the blood vessels leading to the retina becomes damaged or even completely closed off, but it can also increase your risk of developing cataracts or glaucoma. All of these eye conditions can impair your vision or even cause you to lose it completely if your blood sugar levels remain uncontrolled.
While keeping your blood sugar levels within the normal range can help prevent you from losing your eyesight completely, it is not always guaranteed that you won't have issues with your eyesight - no matter how well your diabetes is under control. However, those with very high blood sugar levels on a regular basis have a much greater risk for eye problems than those with controlled diabetes.
2. High blood pressure.
High blood pressure, or hypertension, also affects your eyes. If you have been diagnosed with hypertension, you need to monitor it at least two times a day to make sure your medication and lifestyle changes have it under control. Otherwise, you run the risk of developing several vision problems.
Much like with diabetes, when your blood pressure is uncontrolled, it can cause retinopathy. Not only that, but uncontrolled hypertension can also cause you to develop a buildup of fluid under your retina, which can lead to permanently impaired eyesight if it causes retinal scarring. You could also develop bleeding in your eye from optic nerve damage that results from uncontrolled hypertension.
3. High cholesterol.
People who have high cholesterol don't just need to control it for their heart health—they also need to control it because it can lead to retinal vein occlusion. When you have too much cholesterol in your blood, it causes plaque to buildup in your arteries. Most people know that it does that to the arteries leading to the heart, but it also happens in the arteries leading to the eyes.
When the arteries leading from your eyes to the brain become blocked with a blood clot, it can cause you to lose your eyesight very suddenly. Usually, this condition doesn't cause pain, so it can be disconcerting to lose your vision without any warning.
Getting your cholesterol levels under control is paramount to helping prevent retinal vein occlusion. So, if you value your eyesight and overall health, be sure to take your cholesterol levels seriously.
To keep track of your eyesight and how it's affected by your health, visit an optometrist regularly.
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