​Eye Disease & High Blood Pressure Relationship

High blood pressure can affect the eyes in a number of ways and it can actually damage the retina. The eye disease formed after the damage is known as hypertensive retinopathy.

Risk factors associated with hypertensive retinopathy:

If a patient is having hypertension, chances are there that it can damage the retinal blood vessels. Because of hypertension, the eye condition can also become severe and can also cause high blood pressure. If you have high level of cholesterol, diabetes and if you also smoke, there are chances that it can elevate the eye disease. Malignant hypertension is also known to cause sudden increase in blood pressure. When the blood pressure rises suddenly, it damages the retina as well.

Some of the other causes for the eye disease condition are retinal artery occlusion, which happens when blood supply to retina gets blocked because of hindrance in the arteries. Ischemic optic neuropathy is also known to cause eye disease as it damages the eye nerves. The nerves get damaged because of poor blood circulation. In retinal vein occlusion, there is an impasse in the veins, finally blocking the blood supply to retina.

Hypertensive Retinopathy Symptoms:

The symptoms of this condition are double vision, dimming vision, headache, loss of vision suddenly and visual disturbances. The degree of retinal damage is measured in a scale from 1 to 4. 1 is the lowest and 4 is the highest. As it gradually increases from one step to another, there are changes in blood vessels. Some of the retinal parts may get swollen. When it reaches the final stage, optical nerve and macula gets swollen.

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