Super Hero Powers? True Story.

Remember that old adage ‘Your eyes are a window to your soul”. They are actually a window to your health – with some amazing things that Dr. Ross may find before your regular doctor. The retina, or the back of the eye, is the only place in your body that gives Dr. Ross a close-up view of your blood vessels and nerves – this is the only part of the body where we can see that without surgery. This makes a routine eye exam very useful for detecting important medical issues at their earliest stages. This will make the list of health issues caught by Dr. Ross, even sometimes before ‘regular’ (Primary Care) doctors catch it.

Cancer? Yup.

An eye exam may save your life. We can find everything from brain tumors to breast and lung cancers that have spread to the eye. Certain types of bleeding in the retina can signal leukemia. Dr. Ross can diagnose brain tumors based on changes in a patient’s field of vision. Malignant melanoma can strike in the back of the eye, and patients often don’t know it’s there.

Diabetes? Absolutely.

One of the first clues for type 2 diabetes may be a small amount of bleeding in the retina. We see patients every day who have this damage and who haven’t yet been diagnosed with diabetes. Left untreated, the condition can lead to blindness, but managing it cuts this risk in half. When diabetic retinopathy is detected early, lifestyle changes such as eating healthier and losing weight can help prevent further damage.

High blood pressure? You know it…. Don’t forget Heart Disease, too

Blood vessel damage, including weakening and narrowing of the arteries, can signal high blood pressure. Studies have found links between heart disease and narrowing of small blood vessels in the retina. These connections are particularly strong in people without traditional heart disease risk factors.

Multiple sclerosis? Sure.

Optic neuritis—inflammation of the optic nerve—can be a precursor of MS (Multiple sclerosis) a degenerative disease of the nervous system. Optic neuritis occurs in 75 percent of patients with MS and is the first symptom of the disease in up to 25 percent of cases. (A diagnosis of optic neuritis doesn’t automatically mean you have MS; it could also be the result of an infection or other causes.) Patients, in some cases, don’t yet have any other symptoms.

Rheumatoid arthritis? Check.

About 25 percent of RA (Rheumatoid arthritis) patients have eye issues; the dry eye is the most common. Another issue can be iritis—painful inflammation of the iris or the colored part. RA, an inflammatory disease that affects small joints in the hands and feet, have high levels of inflammatory chemicals in their blood. Sometimes these can migrate to the eyeball as well as to the joints.

So what is the takeaway? Your eyes are more than a window, they are a Crystal Ball – if you had a Super Power to see into the future, would you turn it down? I wouldn’t. Come see Dr. Ross for a wellness eye exam and predict a happy bright future – or at least ways to best keep it that way :)