Can high blood pressure cause eye diseases?

Wu Jianhua, director of Wuhan Aier Eye Hospital, called on the public, especially patients with hypertension, to pay attention to self-testing their blood pressure, keep abreast of their blood pressure status, and improve treatment compliance in order to better control blood pressure, because high blood pressure can not only cause damage to organs such as the heart and brain, but can also cause blindness.

Today, let us learn about hypertensive eye diseases.

Hypertensive retinopathy

Many patients with hypertension only know how to take medicine to control blood pressure, but they have never thought that hypertension can also cause eye diseases, so they have never visited an ophthalmologist to check their fundus.

As the disease progresses, chronic hypertension that is not well controlled for a long time can cause hypertensive retinopathy.

Hypertensive retinopathy can be divided into 4 grades:

Grade I: The retinal arterioles show mild stenosis, sclerosis, spasm and thinning, and the arterial reflection is enhanced;

Grade II: The arterioles are moderately sclerotic and narrowed, with enhanced reflections, copper-wire or silver-wire-like appearance, arteriovenous cross compression, and retinal vein occlusion;

Grade III : moderate or above arterial stenosis with local contraction, cotton wool exudates, hemorrhage and edema in the retina;

Grade IV: Optic disc (optic nerve head) edema and various changes of grade III fundus.

Who should be wary of fundus lesions caused by hypertension?

Elderly patients with hypertension, long-term smokers, and pregnant women with gestational hypertension should be especially alert to fundus problems caused by hypertension. Therefore, if some hypertensive patients experience blurred vision, they should have their eyes checked in time.

How to prevent hypertensive eye disease

• Do four things to prevent hypertensive eye diseases

Although high blood pressure is harmful to the eyes, don't worry too much. If the blood pressure of most hypertensive patients is kept within an ideal range and stable, it will have a significant effect on the prevention and recovery of hypertensive eye diseases. In terms of prevention, you can pay attention to the following four points:

(1) Control blood pressure

Good blood pressure control can reduce the incidence of fundus lesions. Therefore, antihypertensive drugs must be used strictly according to the doctor's instructions. Irregular use of drugs will make blood pressure unstable, thus inducing a series of complications. At the same time, blood pressure should be monitored regularly to understand blood pressure conditions in a timely manner.

(2) Lifestyle habits

Try to avoid lowering your head to lift heavy objects, and do not exert too much force when constipated to avoid bleeding in the retinal blood vessels. In addition, pay attention to the combination of work and rest, pay attention to diet, exercise properly, maintain adequate sleep and a stable mood.

(3) Pay attention to your diet

Eat more fruits and vegetables and foods containing high-quality protein, limit the intake of sodium and fat, and quit smoking and drinking.

(4) Control your weight

Avoid being too fat, pay attention to small details in life, don't tie your underwear and shirt collars too tightly, leave your neck loose, so that the brain can get enough blood nourishment.

Director Wu reminded that hypertension has obvious family clustering, and many hypertensive patients have a relevant family history. Therefore, friends with family members with hypertension should have regular physical examinations, be vigilant, and achieve early detection and early treatment even if they do not find abnormal blood pressure. Once you find that your vision is declining, you see things distorted, there are shadows or flashes in front of your eyes, etc., you should immediately go to a professional ophthalmology medical institution to check the fundus, follow the doctor's advice for treatment, avoid further deterioration of the disease, and protect our eye health.