Rohan J. ShahQ: Can high blood pressure affect my eyesight?
A: Just as elevated blood pressures can negatively affect your health, it can also impair your eyesight. Poorly controlled blood pressures can cause narrowing of the small blood vessels that nourish your retina, the light-sensitive tissue lining the back wall of your eye.
Over time, the damage to these vessels can limit the blood flow to the retina and even cause them to be blocked, which can impair vision similar to how poor blood circulation to your heart can lead to a heart attack.
Regular follow-ups with your primary care and eye doctors are imperative to optimize your blood pressure control and avoid potentially vision-threatening retinal vascular changes.
— Dr. Rohan Shah, Southeast Retina Associates; member, Chattanooga-Hamilton County Medical Society.
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