Eye in Hypertension

Okay, so you have been recently detected to have high blood pressure or 'Hypertension' and are taking 'all precautions'. Did you know, even your eyes can be affected by high blood pressure?

Early changes -

Picture showing advanced Hypertensive retina :

Late Changes 

Deposits of lipids (fats) in the eye.

Cotton - Wool Spots (CWS).

Bleeding into the eye and its complications like scarring, pull on the retina leading to retinal detachment. 

Vein occlusions leading to sudden loss of vision and can cause growth of new vessels in the eye.

What can be done?

My uncle has suffered 2 heart attacks in the past. Recently he had a sudden loss of sight in right eye. The doctor said it was a clot. Can you tell me more?

High cholesterol can block the blood vessels. High blood pressure narrows them further. When the Coronary Artery supplying the heart gets blocked, one gets a heart attack. When one of the clots blocks the blood vessel supplying the eye, there is sudden loss of  blood supply to the eye. This causes loss of sight. The recovery from this is variable and never complete.