According to the latest issue of Harvard Heart Letter, testing of eyes may tell more about the condition of your heart. Clinical testing of eye can predict the condition of the heart, kidneys or conditions like diabetes or stroke.
In a study headed by Dr. John I. Loewenstein, a retina specialist at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, the relationship has been drawn between changing conditions of blood vessels inside the eye with the damage that is caused in the body at the onset of these problems. Thinning or swelling of the blood vessels or the optic nerve can be the precondition to the onset of any such problems like cardiac arrest, high blood pressure or even stroke.Such changes in blood vessels, called hypertensive retinopathy, studies have shown, to be indicative of stroke or heart failure. Women seem to have the strongest links between the diseases and changed conditions of blood vessels in the eyes. The study also says that Women are more in danger of damage to small blood vessels, a condition called microvascular changes, from high blood pressure and diabetes.
Link:
http://www.health.harvard.edu/hhp/article/content.do?name=H0305a
