When you think of signs of heart problems, you probably think of chest pain, breathing problems, and lightheadedness. However, new research from UC San Diego Health has revealed that an early indication of heart disease can be found by studying your eyes. Read the study for a full story on what your eyes can reveal about your heart health, and read another way to test your tick. If you can not do this within 90 seconds, your heart is in danger.
The eyes are especially interesting to study because, as UC San Diego researchers said in their findings – which were published in the journal on March 2 EClinical Medicine by The Lancet—They are the only place in the body where our smallest blood vessels can be easily observed. Decreased blood flow, or other problems associated with heart disease, such as high blood pressure, can cause visible damage to the eye and alert doctors to underlying or developing problems.
“The eyes are a window into our health, and many diseases can manifest in the eye; cardiovascular disease is no exception, ”said the paper’s lead author. Mathieu Bakhoum, MD, PhD, a physician-scientist and retinal surgeon at UC San Diego Health, said in a statement. And for more information on what your eyes say about your well-being, look at 17 warning signs that are trying to tell you about your health.
Since heart disease kills more Americans each year than any other ailment, researchers from the Shiley Eye Institute at UC San Diego Health are trying to see if a non-invasive eye test can detect underlying heart issues, which will help with early detection.
They suspect that retinal ischemia may be an early indication of heart disease. The team therefore looked at studying an optical coherence tomography (OCT), which creates images of the retina, to see where lesions occur. The retina is the innermost, light-sensitive layer of the eye and anything extraordinary there is cause for concern.
“Ischemia, which causes the reduced blood flow due to heart disease, can lead to insufficient blood flow to the eye and can cause cells in the retina to die, leaving a permanent mark,” Bakhoum said. “We call it ‘retinal ischemia’. perivascular lesions, or RIPLs, and try to determine if this finding could serve as a biomarker for cardiovascular disease. “And for more red flags of heart disease, look if you see it in your mouth, your risk of a heart attack is high,” says study.
The UC San Diego Health researchers reviewed the records of individuals who received a retinal OCT scan from July 2014 to July 2019 and compared the scans of individuals with heart disease with those of healthy individuals. According to the researchers, a greater number of RIPLs was observed in the eyes of individuals with heart disease, which led to ‘the higher the number of RIPLs observed, the greater the risk of patients with cardiovascular disease.’
The American College of Cardiology has developed the atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) calculator, which is the way doctors assess a patient’s risk of experiencing a cardiovascular event, such as a heart attack or stroke. In the report, researchers found a correlation between the number of RIPLs in a patient’s eye and their ASCVD risk score. “Individuals with low and border ASCVD scores had a low number of RIPLs in their eyes, but as the ASCVD risk increased, the number of RIPLs also increased,” Bakhoum said. And sign up for our daily newsletter for more health news sent straight to your inbox.
Ophthalmologists at UC San Diego Health suggest that patients be referred to a cardiologist if RIPLs are identified during an OCT scan, even if they have not yet shown any other symptoms of heart disease. “In general, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death, and unfortunately many people are unaware that they have heart problems,” Bakhoum said. ‘The key to preventing this is early detection and treatment. It is our hope that by identifying RIPLs as a marker for providers of cardiovascular disease, we will be able to identify heart problems before a catastrophic event, such as a heart attack or stroke, occurs. “And for cardiovascular risk factors, look. If you have this blood type, your risk for a heart attack is higher,” says study.