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You can tell a lot about someone from their eyes. We judge mood and emotion from peoples eyes and it's a popular saying that they are “windows to our soul." But there is a lot more truth in this proverb than you perhaps first thought. Health issues can certainly be detected from our eyes, and not just diseases that are pertinent only to our vision like glaucoma or cataracts, conjunctivitis etc. Systemic diseases can sometimes be visible in or around our eyes as well, diseases like diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease can often show up first symptoms long before the “regular” triggers alert us to a problem.
Our eyes are the one place of our bodies where you can see bare arteries, bare nerves, or bare veins without any dissection. Disease processes we see taking place in our eyes are most probably taking effect in the remainder of our bodies as well.
The systemic diseases that can manifest in our eyes are not restricted to diabetes and cardiovascular disease, it can include aneurysms, cancers, hereditary diseases and also HIV. More reasons than ever to sustain regular eye examinations with an optician or ophthalmic professional.
Patients with hereditary problems surrounding eye health should be cautious and keep up systematic screening as well as anyone experiencing problems for the first time should be seeking help right away. Some may not recognise symptoms and in a lot of cases there may be no symptoms at all so check ups are vital.
Here are 10 of the most common eye signs to have investigated:
- Bloody eye. Can be a sign of severe high blood pressure or a white blood cell disorder.
- Bulging eyes. May be linked to thyroid disease.
- Different colored eyes. (Heterochromia iridis) A change in color may be due to bleeding, or other conditions such as Waardenburg syndrome or neurofibromatosis.
- Droopy eyelid. (Ptosis) can be brought on by aging but also symptomatic for neuromuscular disease known as myasthenia gravis (MG), an autoimmune disorder that weakens muscles.
- Pupil abnormalities. Possibilities include stroke, brain or optic nerve tumor, brain aneurysm, syphilis, and MS. Also some medications including illicit drugs can cause the pupils to appear different sizes.
- Rings on the cornea. Wilson’s disease can cause copper to accumulate in various tissues, Wilson’s disease can be fatal.
- Thickened eyelid. In rare cases, a thickening of the eyelid is a sign of neurofibromatosis, a rare hereditary disorder marked by the growth of tumors along nerve fibres.
- Yellow eyes. Diseases of the liver, including hepatitis and cirrhosis, can turn the scleras yellow.
- Arterial plaques. Atherosclerosis is the disease process that causes cholesterol plaques to form in arteries, including the carotid arteries in the neck and the coronary arteries.
- Optic nerve abnormalities. A pale optic nerve can be an early manifestation of MS, as well as evidence of a brain tumor or aneurysm.
- Retinal defects. Various medical conditions, notably diabetes and high blood pressure, can damage the blood vessels and nerves in the retina (as well as elsewhere in the body).