According to the new report, high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels not only are bad for your heart, they may also harm your eyesight.
According to background information in the report published in the May issue of the Archives of Ophthalmology, the two conditions appear to increase one’s risk for retinal vein occlusion, a condition that leads to vision loss.
It results from one or more veins carrying blood from the eye to the heart becoming blocked and causing bleeding or fluid build-up.
The Irish study found that people with high blood pressure had more than 3.5 times the risk of developing retinal vein occlusion than those without it.
People with high cholesterol levels had an approximately 2.5-fold higher risk of retinal vein occlusion.
According to the authors, those who treat patients with hypertension, diabetes and high cholesterol should be as concerned with the health of the person’s eyes as they are with the health of the person’s cardiovascular system.
Source: Medline Plus
