How does high blood pressure affect the eyes?

High blood pressure not only leaves many complications for the organs in the body but also seriously affects the eyes. Retinal hypertension can rupture blood vessels and bleed in the eye, causing blurred vision or permanent blindness.

Blood pressure is a measure of the pressure of blood in the arteries when the heart pumps blood to the tissues of the body. Accordingly, after a period of time, the increased pressure can damage the heart and cause a stroke.
Currently, hypertension is quite common in our country due to long life, potential risk of diabetes and habit of using a lot of salt. Accordingly, high blood pressure continuously affects the artery walls, increasing the risk of atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). High blood pressure progresses silently for many years, it is difficult for patients to detect symptoms because the symptoms of the disease are often unclear, even in some people with high blood pressure without any warning symptoms. which brand. Therefore, hypertension still silently damages blood vessels, especially brain, heart, kidneys, typically retinal hypertension.
Due to the silent development and serious impact on health, early detection of the disease is very important. Patients can self-monitor their blood pressure at home, if they see an increase in blood pressure, they can go to medical centers for examination and advice from doctors.
Some symptoms of high blood pressure can be easily recognized as follows:
Headache Shallow breathing Nose bleeding Red face Dizziness Chest pain Blurred vision Hematuria People with high blood pressure may see symptoms diseases mentioned above. However, if high blood pressure becomes severe, a stroke or heart attack can occur. Therefore, many health experts recommend that everyone should have regular health checkups, especially those at high risk of disease. Accordingly, if you only have a check-up once a year, ask your doctor for advice about your risk of hypertension and other instructions for monitoring your blood pressure.

Some causes of high blood pressure are as follows:
The diameter of the arteries is narrow. Blood volume is larger than normal. The heart beats faster and stronger than normal. Due to the use of certain drugs that increase blood pressure. Elder; fat; a family member with high blood pressure; People with a tendency for blood pressure to be higher than normal: 135-139/85-89 mmHg will be susceptible to hypertension. In addition, in some people the cause of high blood pressure (essential hypertension) cannot be identified. This disease is common in people aged 40-50 years and older.

Hypertension affecting the eyes is divided into 4 specific stages as follows:
Stage I: The patient has long-term hypertension, no symptoms yet, so the heart and kidneys have not been affected. On examination of the fundus, there was a small constricted artery. Stage II: The blood pressure index is higher, the heart and kidney function is still good. In addition to signs of retinal artery shrinkage, in stage 2 there are also signs of arteriovenous crossing that only an ophthalmologist can recognize. Stage III: The blood pressure index is quite high and prolonged, at this time the heart and kidney function have been markedly impaired, the patient will feel short of breath when exertion. In stage III, damage to the brain, heart, retina, and kidney failure has already occurred. Ophthalmoscopy can show hemorrhage, exudate in the retina. Stage IV: This stage is considered malignant hypertension, very high blood pressure readings accompanied by severe damage to the brain, heart, kidneys and retina. On ophthalmoscopy, in addition to the signs of stage III, there is also papilledema. Accordingly, the more severe the damage to the retina, the higher the risk of cerebrovascular complications, coronary heart disease, and death. However, if hypertension is well controlled, damage to the retina will reverse.
In addition to complications caused to the heart, brain, and kidneys, high blood pressure also increases the risk of retinal diseases such as: central or branch retinal artery occlusion, central or venous occlusion. retinal branch vessels, retinal artery aneurysms. The complications of retinal hypertension can lead to other serious complications in the retina such as the appearance of crystals and membranes on the retina, the appearance of new vessels in the retina. In particular, in people with a history of diabetic retinopathy, high blood pressure will make the disease worse. Prolonged papilledema can atrophy the optic nerve, resulting in impaired vision. Blood pressure is the blood pressure acting on the vessel wall, when the blood pressure index is high, it will damage the whole vascular system, especially the small blood vessels that nourish the retina of the eye, causing them to dilate. Cracks, blood clots appear, causing dangerous complications as follows:
Occlusion of the central retinal artery: In this complication, patients often have sudden blurred vision, even being unable to see a single eye. The eye is completely clear, but no pain or redness is seen. The golden time for emergency vision restoration is within the first 2 hours, the level of improvement will gradually decrease within 6 hours after that. Central retinal vein occlusion: This complication can cause retinal edema, which causes vision loss over several days, as if there is a layer of fog in front of the eye or there are dark spots in the center. Depending on the severity of the disease, vision will decrease more or less. Therefore, as soon as detecting signs of blurred vision or difficulty in seeing, patients should immediately seek medical attention at reputable medical facilities.

The phenomenon of flying flies: This phenomenon will create the feeling for the patient to see a lot of black spots flying in front of his eyes. This is because when the retinal vein is blocked, new blood vessels can appear on the retina. These new blood vessels are very fragile, when they burst they cause bleeding inside the eye. Vitreous haemorrhage: Vitreous hemorrhage is a condition in which blood spills into the vitreous when a broken blood vessel blocks the transmission of light rays, causing the patient to see red smoke, a red moving membrane. Vitreous hemorrhage may clear up after a few days, but can also become more severe, causing cataracts that are difficult to treat. Damage to the optic nerve: The amount of blood and fluid escaping from the vessel will cause damage to the optic nerve, causing the patient to lose vision quickly and irreversibly. In order to minimize the dangerous complications caused by high blood pressure to the eyes, patients should follow the doctor's examination and treatment instructions, and maintain a suitable lifestyle and diet. fit.
Because of the dangerous complications of high blood pressure cause to the eyes as well as many other organs in the body, daily monitoring and control of blood pressure is extremely necessary. Especially when high blood pressure often has no obvious signs but only silently destroys many organs in the body.

Realizing that dangerous level, now, Vinmec International General Hospital has been implementing the Basic Hypertension Checkup Package and Advanced Hypertension Checkup Package, helping patients identify the causes and variables. symptoms and levels of hypertension to guide treatment of the disease and minimize sequelae affecting the eyes as well as many other organs in the body. The advantages of implementing the Hypertension Package at Vinmec include:
The medical team - doctors are leading experts, highly qualified, dedicated and wholeheartedly for the benefit of the patient. With 90% having a university degree, 20% are Professors and Associate Professors; Nearly 30% are doctorates, bringing high efficiency in medical treatment, comprehensive and professional medical examination, consulting and treatment services, Modern equipment system, supporting diagnosis and effective treatment Modern, civilized, luxurious and sterile medical examination and treatment space. In addition to hypertension, Vinmec is also an address for examination, screening and treatment of many diseases, including vision-related diseases and retinal complications.
Customers wishing to visit and use Vinmec's medical services can contact HERE