The eye is the only part of the body where blood vessels can be observed without invasive procedures. Therefore, even minor changes in the eyes can indicate various diseases.
The eyes cease to be the mirror of the soul and become a transparent window into our overall health. Langis Michaud, professor of optometry at the University of Montreal, explains that most serious diseases develop without any symptoms.
Type 2 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and oncology manifest themselves and are detected already in the later stages of development. While a simple visual field measurement can detect abnormalities that patients may not be aware of or that they consider unimportant and do not report.
Unusual eye movements, asymmetrical pupil reactions, sudden difficulty reading, or double vision are all warning signs that require further evaluation by an ophthalmologist or neurologist.
Only in the eyes can blood vessels be directly seen without the need for incisions or invasive procedures. Thanks to this, eye examination can reveal high blood pressure, which can be seen by narrowing of blood vessels and characteristic changes in the retina, hypercholesterolemia due to the accumulation of cholesterol in the walls of blood vessels, atherosclerosis and elevated cholesterol levels, which can be found in the cornea as a lipid arc or in the eye area appendages, which manifests itself in the form of xanthelasmas.