Look into the eyes and what do you see? Did you know that your eyes tell more than how clearly you see things? A skilled eye doctor, ophthalmologist, can detect early signs of other health problems by examining your eyes. The vessels and the retina of the eyes are a window of information that can signal possible early signs of high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. Today, over 1/3 of Americans have diabetes and are unaware of it. It is often during an eye exam that the eye doctor notices something that alerts more testing should be done. For some individuals, they may have not even had any of the common symptoms of diabetes. Without an eye exam, months could go by before it is even diagnosed. Eye exams should be a part of your health maintenance plan. For adults it is needed to detect any visual changes or early signs of disease. For children, the eye exam plans an important role in the developmental process. Vision is closely linked to the learning process. If a child has trouble seeing, it could be the cause of poor academic performance in school. Children won’t generally complain since they don’t know what “normal” vision looks like. It is important to always rule out underlying vision problems before a child is labeled learning disabled. Don’t confuse an eye screening for an eye exam. An example of an eye screening would be the test that is done when you apply for your driver’s license or those performed by the school nurse or at a well child exam. Although vision screenings are useful to identify potential vision problems it doesn’t substitute for a comprehensive eye exam. Other than screening for the need for glasses the comprehensive exams checks for disease of the eye, how well the eyes work together and the eyes as they relate to your overall health. So even if you feel you can see clearly, don’t forget, there is more to see when they look into your eyes.
