TOD - Eyes: Hypertensive Retinopathy

When high blood pressure is not treated it causes damage to various body organs. One of the important organs is eyes. When hypertension is not treated it affects the veins that supply blood to the eye and causes eye disease. This is known as Hypertensive Retinopathy. Hypertension causes damage to the retina, back of the eye where the image focus. If untreated this leads to serious problems. 

Symptoms:

There is no particular symptom to identify Hypertensive Retinopathy only on regular examination it can be found. General symptoms can be headache and vision problem. 

Diagnosis: 

Eye care professional diagnosis hypertensive retinopathy using an Ophthalmoscope, which is an instrument that projects light to the back of the eyeball, the doctor will look for the signs of retinopathy as: 

• Narrowing of the blood vessels
• Spots on the retinal known as cotton wool spots and exudates
• Swelling of macula (the central area of the retina) and optic nerve
• Bleeding in the back of the eye

Treatment:

The best way to treat Hypertensive Retinopathy is to control the blood pressure.