The annual visits you keep with your eye doctor for comprehensive eye exams are more than a way to monitor your vision. When the eye doctor looks at your eye structures, they can identify many systemic conditions, often before they manifest any significant symptoms. 

The detection is possible because the eye is the only place you can look inside the body noninvasively. They can see nerves and blood vessels that run through your head to your brain.

High Blood Pressure

Sometimes, the structures in the eye will bleed even when you do not have any issues. The typical instances of ocular bleeding can occur when you cough or sneeze too hard. But ocular bleeding is also a sign of high blood pressure. 

When ocular bleeding occurs due to high blood pressure, it presents as broken tiny blood vessels in the eye's sclera. Moreover, you may have some swelling in the eye when you have high blood pressure for a prolonged period without treatment. Prolonged hypertension results in stiffening arteries in the retina. 

Heart or Cardiac Disease

The eye and the heart are linked in several ways, meaning heart issues will also appear in the eye. An eye doctor can detect several heart conditions through eye exams before they manifest any other symptoms. 

One way they can detect heart conditions is when they spot plaque deposits that break away from carotid artery buildup. This artery is the main blood supply artery to the brain, and buildup can predict a coming stroke. 

Diabetes

Diabetes is sneakier than other conditions because you could have perfect vision, but your eyes could still be affected by the condition. Through a comprehensive eye exam, an eye doctor can find signs of diabetes that are still developing or have not yet manifested symptoms. 

Experts found 400,000 cases of diabetic retinopathy in 2017 through eye exams before any official diagnosis. Early detection can help mitigate how much damage the condition can cause in the eye.

Rheumatoid Arthritis

This condition is better known because of its impact on the joints, but many people do not know it also affects the eye. The most common effect of the condition on the eye is dry eye syndrome. 

However, it has another impact because of the nature of the condition and the cells making up the sclera. Inflammation from rheumatoid arthritis affects collagen, the main ingredient in connective tissues. Collagen is also the primary tissue that forms the sclera, meaning that inflammation from the condition can appear here. 

Thyroid Disorder

Thyroid disorder starts by affecting the overall eye structure and the surrounding features. It causes your eyeballs to protrude, leading to retracting eyelids. The condition can occur with dry eye, but this is mostly the impact of the retracted eyelids that fail to cover the eye sufficiently. 

For more on the eye diseases that comprehensive eye exams can detect, visit Vision Quest Optical at our office in Midland or Bay City, Michigan. Call (989) 835-2020​​​​​​​ or (989) 778-1414 to book an appointment today.