Eye doctors can pick up a variety of diseases from an eye examination

Optometrists and ophthalmologists can diagnose a variety of conditions by examining the eye e.g. diabetes, stroke risk, high blood pressure, leukemia and some brain tumors. Diabetes causes blood vessel damage that may be visible in the retina. When examining the eye blood vessels, diabetes will show up as hemorrhage spots; high blood pressure will cause the blood vessels to leak and they will have an irregular appearance. One optometrist had a patient come in complaining about severe headaches and blurry vision. The optometrist diagnosed him with extremely high blood pressure. The man was in kidney failure and was on dialysis within days. Leukemia causes Roth’s spots in the eye which appear as small hemorrhages with a yellow dot in the centre. High cholesterol appears as visible plaques in the eye vessels. People suffering from gradual vision loss as they age should not self diagnose but should see a specialist as it may be a sign of glaucoma which can result in blindness if left untreated. Pituitary gland brain tumors may also be visible during an eye examination. Sickle cell anemia and thyroid disease may leave its mark on the eye as well.

Source: summary of medical news story as reported by Review Journal

Related Disease Topics:

• Diabetes
• Stroke
• High blood pressure
• Leukemia
• Brain tumor
• Eye disease
• Kidney failure
• High cholesterol
• Vision loss
• Glaucoma
• Blindness
• Pituitary gland brain tumor
• Sickle cell anemia
• Thyroid disease

Related Symptom Topics:

• Hemorrhage spots in eye
• Leaking blood vessels in eye
• Severe headache
• Blurry vision
• Roth’s spots

Article Source Details

About: Eye doctors can pick up a variety of diseases from an eye examination

Date: 16 January 2005

Source: Review Journal

Author: Joan Whitely

URL: http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2005/Jan-16-Sun-2005/living/25616690.html

Related Medical Topics

This summary article refers to the following medical categories:

• Diagnosis
• Diagnosis and diabetes
• Diagnosis and stroke
• Diagnosis and high blood pressure
• Diagnosis and leukemia
• Diagnosis and brain tumor
• Diagnosis and eye disease
• Diagnosis and kidney failure
• Diagnosis and high cholesterol
• Diagnosis and vision loss
• Diagnosis and glaucoma
• Diagnosis and blindness
• Diagnosis and pituitary gland brain tumor
• Diagnosis and sickle cell anemia
• Diagnosis and thyroid disease
• Diagnosis and hemorrhage spots in eye
• Diagnosis and leaking blood vessels in eye
• Diagnosis and severe headache
• Diagnosis and blurry vision
• Diagnosis and Roth’s spots
• Undiagnosed
• Undiagnosed and diabetes
• Undiagnosed and stroke
• Undiagnosed and high blood pressure
• Undiagnosed and leukemia
• Undiagnosed and brain tumor
• Undiagnosed and eye disease
• Undiagnosed and kidney failure
• Undiagnosed and high cholesterol
• Undiagnosed and vision loss
• Undiagnosed and glaucoma
• Undiagnosed and blindness
• Undiagnosed and pituitary gland brain tumor
• Undiagnosed and sickle cell anemia
• Undiagnosed and thyroid disease
• Undiagnosed and hemorrhage spots in eye
• Undiagnosed and leaking blood vessels in eye
• Undiagnosed and severe headache
• Undiagnosed and blurry vision
• Undiagnosed and Roth’s spots
• Cause of hemorrhage spots in eye
• Cause of leaking blood vessels in eye
• Cause of severe headache
• Cause of blurry vision
• Cause of Roth’s spots