When blood pressure affects sight

The eyes may also suffer when you have hypertension or high blood pressure. Have you heard of hypertensive retinopathy?The name sounds complicated but it’s easy to understand what this condition can be avoided and kept under control. So you know how to take care of, here we tell you about hypertensive retinopathy can not afford to ignore.  

As its name implies, the retinopathy is a condition in the retina, which is a group of light sensitive cells that line the back of the eye and that is responsible for receiving and sending the images to the brain via the optic nerve.

The retina can be affected by different reasons and according to what the cause, and then it will be called the type of retinopathy.    In a previous article healthlineinfo.com  since we told you about diabetic retinopathy , which can happen to the people with diabetes and that you should take time to not affect vision.

Now, it’s time to talk about hypertensive retinopathy, which can happen to people who have hypertension, high blood pressure . Remember that pressure is considered high when the systolic pressure (when the ventricles contract and the heart pumps blood) is 140 or greater (this is her first number is measured) and / or when the diastolic pressure (when the or heart rests between beats) is 90 or greater.

A reading of 130/90 is considered pre-hypertension.

Why high pressure affects the retina? Because it contains many blood vessels, so small, that supply blood and oxygen to the eye. Exactly, cause high blood pressure abnormalities (abnormalities) in blood vessels, causes the small arteries back thicker and can be blocked or bleeding. In the eye, such changes may affect vision (and even if the pressure gets too suddenly can cause inflammation of the optic nerve called papilledema ).

One of the problems is that hypertensive retinopathy, despite the complications that can cause high blood pressure, people with this condition generally have no symptoms until the disease is advanced and sometimes problems are not reversible. Hence the importance of getting the eye tests regularly because the ophthalmologist or optometrist can discover this hypertensive retinopathy during a routine examination of vision.

For that, use an instrument called an ophthalmoscope, which lets you see the narrowing of blood vessels and possible signs that fluid has leaked by them. For example: the first signs of hypertensive retinopathy could find are retinal hemorrhages (small blood spots).

As hypertensive retinopathy progresses, the ophthalmologist could also detect a swelling or thickening of the macula (which is a very small area in the center of the retina responsible for detailed view) due to fluid leaks vessels retinal blood.The latter is known as the macula hard exudates, that usually are accompanied by inflammation (swelling), and cause the deterioration of vision.

Then finally when symptoms appear, they can manifest the following signs:

• Double vision  or weakened
• Headaches
• Visual disturbances such as halos, blind spots and floaters
• Sudden loss of vision (this is not as common)

The only treatment for hypertensive retinopathy is to control high blood pressure, but in severe cases, damage to the optic nerve or macula may be permanent.Similarly, the only way to avoid it is to control blood pressure.

Remember how you can control hypertension? In some cases you may need to take medicine, as I told you to your doctor. In others, it is enough if you change some habits . For example:

• Decrease consumption of salt or sodium  (avoid adding salt to foods andalways read product labels , the recommended maximum per day is 2.4 g sodium or 6 g of salt)
• Avoid overweight (and if you are exceeded, trying to lose weight)
• Limit your alcohol consumption
• Practice physical activity, at least 30 minutes, 3 times a week

With these healthy habits, you will not only protect your eyes but also your quality of life in general. Start small and go for it, protect yourself from hypertensive retinopathy can be easier than you think.