Having a regular eye exam helps prevent countless diseases and provide early detection of others, like diabetes, arthritis, cancer, and more.
The eyes really do tell-all and often signal a problem in the early stages before it’s detectable anywhere else within the body.
Your eye doctor can find warning signs long before your family doctor can discern a problem. For this reason, it is vitally important for everyone to have a regular eye exam.
Health Risks Detected by Eye Exams
Most people are unaware of the benefits of a routine eye exam. This list is by no means comprehensive, but will provide a look into the illnesses that can be prevented or detected early with a simple exam.
1. Cancer. Just like your skin, your eyes are also susceptible to damage caused by the ultraviolet rays from the sun. A small percentage of people will develop a freckle in the back of their eye, which requires monitoring just like freckles on the skin.
For this reason, sunglasses and an annual eye exam are very important to your health.
2. Diabetes. Since patients with diabetes are at a higher risk for eye diseases, a comprehensive eye exam is crucial to maintaining overall health. Our eye doctors can detect the earliest signs of diabetes and catch them before you notice a change in vision!
Related: 3 Reasons Comprehensive Exams Matter for Diabetes
3. Rheumatoid Arthritis. Occasionally, the feeling of dry or burning eyes can be an early sign of rheumatoid arthritis or other auto-immune inflammatory conditions. Other symptoms of Rheumatoid Arthritis include dry mouth and chronic joint pain.
4. Sexually Transmitted Diseases. Syphilis is among the most common STD our eye doctors can detect. Undetected syphilis often causes pupils to vary in size. According to various reports, this disease is on the rise in the U.S.
5. Stroke Risk. Sometimes eye doctors can detect blood vessel blockages in the back of the eye, which pose a high stroke risk. Especially for those who are older, a regular vision exam can help detect stroke risk before an actual stroke occurs.
6. Thyroid Disease
Thinning eyelashes, which may be overlooked by some people as a sign of aging, can signify thyroid disease or skin conditions, such as cancer or rosacea.
In people with hyperthyroidism, retracting eyelids, bulging eyes and dry eye are also signs of thyroid disease.
7. High Blood Pressure. Arteriovenous nicking, bulging veins, or hemorrhaging at the retina in the back of the eye almost always signifies high blood pressure. Eye doctors can refer these patients to a regular doctor who will help them to make lifestyle changes and take the proper steps to prevent heart disease.
8. Vitamin A Deficiency. Vitamin A deficiency is commonly seen in patients who receive weight-loss surgery or others who are malnourished or not consuming a balanced diet on a regular basis. Doctors can notice plaque buildup on the surface of the eye, dry eye, or changes in vision to indicate this problem.
9. Lyme Disease. Lyme Disease can create systemic inflammation throughout the body, but especially neurologically, including facial nerves and optic nerves. This kind of inflammation is easily detected through routine eye exams with your doctor.
Related: Signs of Lyme Disease Can Be Seen in a Routine Eye Exam
By scheduling an annual dilated exam with one of our doctors at VisionFirst, we can look for risk factors and early signs of these diseases before you experience any vision problems.
I’ve been wondering what kinds of things can be detected with an eye exam. I didn’t know that they can determine so many different things! I think it’s interesting that a lot of the things don’t have much to do with eyes. Thank you for sharing!
I had no idea that you could see diabetes in the eyes! I have a family history of diabetes, but so far we’ve seen no symptoms. I want to know as soon as possible if I do have it so maybe I should see my optometrist more often for exams!
It was cool to learn that having an eye exam could help to prevent health problems from occurring. I really like how you explained that “Vitamin A deficiency is commonly seen in patients who have had a weight-loss surgery. Doctors notice plaque on the surface of the eye indicating this problem.” I have never had an eye exam before but I can imagine how helpful one can be when it comes to helping you and your doctor discover healthy problems before they become a problem.
My wife recently failed her vision test when renewing her drivers license. She has been procrastinating getting an eye exam to get vision correction. I didn’t realize these examinations can detect stroke risk by looking at vessel blockages in the back of the eye. I’ll be sure my wife knows about this advantage.
That’s crazy that 5-7% of the population will actually get freckles on the back of their eyes. I would have never thought. My son is going to be starting school in the fall, so I’m going to be doing a lot of doctor’s visits. He was wondering what the point of an eye exam was, so your article will really help him understand. I’ll just have to find him an eye doctor to go to.
I certainly agree when you said that eyes are the windows of our soul. However, I had no idea that just by simply having eye exams, we can be able to detect illnesses like these! And even STDs! I need to talk to my friend and share this information with her so she can have her check-up at the soonest possible time.
I was surprised when you said that regular eye exams can detect diabetes because it causes small specks of blood to form. I haven’t been to the eye doctor in quite a long time because I haven’t noticed any problems with my vision. I’m glad I read your article and realized why regular eye exams are important regardless of potential symptoms that are noticed.
I was surprised when you said that an eye exam can identify blocked blood vessels which can lead to a stroke. I haven’t seen an eye care specialist in about five years because I haven’t noticed any problems with my vision. Reading your article made me feel motivated to book an appointment with an eye specialist soon!
It’s surprising how many diseases can be caught during an eye exam, even including cancer. My wife suggested I get an eye exam with her this year since we just moved to a new town and her glasses were damaged during the move. Even if my eyes can see well, it sounds like checking that they’re healthy is a good reason to have them examined.
I like what you said about getting an eye exam to detect blood vessel blockages. My sister has been telling me about how she wants to be able to avoid having a stroke in the coming years. I’ll share this information with her so that she can look into having an eye exam.
I had no clue that if you to an eye exam the doctor can detect if you have diabetes by seeing if you have small specks of blood in the back of your eye. I feel like this makes going to the eye doctor even more important. If they can detect all of these health risks just by looking at my eye then I think people should get an eye exam done at least once or twice a year.
I did not know that getting regular eye tests can help a doctor detect blood vessel blockages that can lead to a stroke. As far as I know, my aunt never treated her vision issues. I will recommend her to go get an eye exam so that she can also find out any stroke risks.
All of this is true! I had an exam this past Saturday and I asked my optometrist what he was checking for in addition to my eye health. He said: why do you think doctors ask for blood tests? Because they cannot see blood flow; we are the only doctors who can actually ‘see blood flow’.