Here are just a few health problems that may be discovered during an eye exam: Stroke: Sometimes eye doctors can detect blood vessel blockages in the back of the eye, which pose a high stroke risk. A regular vision exam can help detect a stroke before it happens, especially in older individuals.
The Stroke Association has highlighted the role that optometrists can play in spotting the signs of a stroke. Sudden loss or blurring of vision can be a symptom of a transient ischaemic attack (TIA), sometimes known as a mini-stroke.
An eye stroke is diagnosed by reviewing your medical history, including any pre-existing health conditions (such as hypertension and diabetes), and performing a dilated eye exam. Your visual field and central visual acuity will be assessed, and your optic nerve and retina will be inspected.
Visual field loss: hemianopia
A common problem that can affect your sight after a stroke is loss of part or whole sections of your visual field. Visual field is the term used to describe the entire area that you can see when your eyes are fixed in one position.
Blurred vision or partial/complete vision loss may be signs that you are having a stroke. Sudden vision changes could also have other causes. If you have a sudden change in your vision, you should see a doctor and have it checked out.
Patients with high blood pressure can have unusual bends, kinks or tears in the vessels in their eyes. These are typically visible during a dilated eye exam, and can help to give a clear picture of your risk of stroke, aneurysm or other complications.
An eye stroke is a medical emergency that requires urgent attention. If you or a loved one are experiencing sudden, painless vision change or vision loss in one eye, seek immediate care.
Without blood flow, the cells in the retina don't get enough oxygen. They can start to die within minutes or hours. An eye stroke is an emergency. If you don't get treated right away, you can damage your vision permanently.
Some people will experience symptoms such as headache, numbness or tingling several days before they have a serious stroke. One study found that 43% of stroke patients experienced mini-stroke symptoms up to a week before they had a major stroke.
If a stroke is suspected, a CT scan is usually able to show whether you have had an ischaemic stroke or a haemorrhagic stroke. It's generally quicker than an MRI scan and can mean you're able to receive appropriate treatment sooner.
Sudden confusion, trouble speaking, or difficulty understanding speech. Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes. Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance, or lack of coordination. Sudden severe headache with no known cause.
In addition to the classic stroke symptoms associated with the FAST acronym, around 7-65% of people undergoing a stroke will experience some form of a headache. People describe a stroke-related headache as a very severe headache that comes on within seconds or minutes.
It is estimated that about 12,000 people suffer an eye stroke every year. Risk factors include smoking, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and narrowing of the carotid or neck arteries, but it can affect anyone, particularly those over 60 years of age.
The biggest clue to retinal stroke is if your symptoms occur only in one eye. These may include: Floaters, which appear as small gray spots floating around in your field of vision. Floaters happen when blood and other fluids leak and then clump up in the fluid, or vitreous, in the middle of your eye.
Yes, you can have a stroke and not know it. A stroke's effects can be undetectable if the stroke is small or if the tissue damaged does not serve a critical function. Evidence of the stroke would show on a CT scan or an MRI of the brain, but it might not produce symptoms.
Treatments for an eye stroke include: Medications to reduce pressure in your eye or to dissolve the blood clot. Laser treatment to close up leaking blood vessels. Massaging the closed eye.
With this exam, your eye doctor can see the retina (which senses light and images), the optic disk (where the optic nerve takes the information to the brain) and blood vessels.
A regular, routine eye test can sometimes detect eye problems that indicate the presence of a brain tumour before any symptoms become obvious. An eye test is particularly good at identifying any swelling of the optic disc (a condition called papilloedema) and can also identify when there is pressure on the optic nerve.
One of the most common stroke mimics is a seizure, which researchers believe account for as many as 20% of all stroke mimics. Other common stroke mimics include migraines, syncope, sepsis, brain tumor and metabolic derangement (low sodium or low blood sugar).
Panic attacks are often confused with heart attacks or strokes. They share many of the same symptoms: Racing heart. Chest pains or tightness.