If you have high blood pressure, it is important that you have your eyes checked out by an eye doctor (ophthalmologist) regularly. The reason is one of the possible complications of high blood pressure is something called hypertensive retinopathy.
Hypertensive retinopathy, refers to damage to the retina due to persistent high blood pressure. The word hypertensive means related to high blood pressure or hypertension, and retinopathy refers to damage to the retina.
The retina, located in the back part of the eye, plays a very important role in our vision. It functions much like film in a camera, capturing all the images that we see so that our brain will be able to interpret the objects.
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| The Human Eye |
When you have hypertension, blood vessels in the retina damage are damaged by the high pressure exerted on the vessel walls. Left untreated, this lead to blurry vision and permanent damage.
Below we have images of a normal retina on the left and a retina with hypertensive retinopathy.
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| Normal retina (left) compared with retina suffering from hypertensive retinopathy (right) |
Initially flaming hemorrhages and cotton spots will appear. Then as hypertensive retinopathy progresses, hard exudates will appear around the macula causing visual impairment.
The good news is, when blood pressure is controlled, hypertensive retinopathy goes away.
Hello there people! What are the causes of high blood pressure and how can I treat it? Thanks!
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