Shakespeare once wrote that, “The eyes are the window to the soul.” It is also true that the eyes can be considered a window to the internal workings of your body. Nowhere else on the body are we able to view actual blood vessels in action like we can when we look at the retina. As such, we can often detect general physical diseases by looking at the eyes.

Check out the following list of eye diseases, followed by a list of systemic diseases, that all can be found during a routine eye exam:

Common Eye Diseases:

•    Cataracts
•    Glaucoma
•    Macular Degeneration
•    Retinal Detachment
•    Dry Eye
•    Corneal Degeneration

Systemic Diseases That Can Be Detected During An Eye Exam:

•    Diabetes
•    Hypertension – High Blood Pressure
•    Hypercholesterolemia – High Cholesterol
•    HIV/AIDS
•    Multiple Sclerosis
•    Graves Disease
•    Herpes Simplex/Herpes Zoster infections
•    Carotid Stenosis – a narrowing of the carotid artery and a risk factor for strokes