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General Health and Your Eyes-A Close Relationship

Did you know that many medical conditions can have effects on your vision and eye health? And the medications used to treat these conditions can also have side effects to your vision and eye health. Regular visits to your optometrist are recommended if you have health conditions and/or if you are on certain types of medications.

Below is a list of the most common medical conditions and medications that can have vision and eye health effects. These effects can range from mild (dry eye) to severe (loss of vision).

Health Conditions:

• Hypertension (high blood pressure)
• Diabetes
• Hypercholesterolemia (high cholesterol)
• Neurological disease (multiple sclerosis)
• Auto-immune disease (lupus, arthritis, etc.)

Medications:

• Anti-depressants
• Anti-histamines-Reactine, Claritin, etc.
• Anti-inflammatories-Prednisone, Plaquenil
• Hormone replacement therapy
• Heart arrhythmia

While this is not a complete list, these represent the most common health conditions and medications that can have vision and eye health side effects.

How Your Optometrist Can Help

1. An accurate and detailed case history by your optometrist is the starting point. Severity of the health condition, other health conditions, current medications, medication dosages, age, current and previous vision and eye health reactions are all important in determining the level of risk to your eyes and what testing is needed.
   
   
2. Your optometrist will then do a complete vision and eye health examination, keeping in mind the information from the case history. If all results are normal, this can then be used as baseline data for future testing. If future testing shows different vision or eye health results, this may indicate the medical condition is changing. Treatment for both the eyes and medical condition can be started with proper follow-up.
   
   
3. Lastly, your optometrist can communicate with your doctor or any specialists to let them know about how your medical conditions and/or medications are affecting your vision and eye health. Depending on your results, you will be informed when re-testing is needed again.

Don't forget about your eyes if you have a medical condition or if you are taking medications. Your optometrist can play a major role in treating not only your eyes, but your overall well-being.

Please use our online appointment request link to schedule an appointment for yourself and any family members.