Health History

You will hear me give you this disclaimer on this blog often, I am not a medical doctor, rather, I am an optometrist (eye doctor). Eye disease can relate to other health issues of the body and vice versa. Many medications can have effects on the eye. Optometrists can detect and identify many conditions that have systemic relationships. Optometrists work closely with medical doctors regarding eye exam findings and your general health. Our office sends out many letters daily to physicians regarding our suspicious findings and diagnosis (the most common in my practice are diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and neurological disease).

Our history forms are very similar to ones you fill out at you medical physician's office. When I review my patient's family history form, I will ask questions if their medical doctor is running tests at least annually to rule out the conditions that are known to be in the family tree. Many patients are not aware if their physician is testing for these conditions. They report that no blood work was completed because they went in only for a specific symptom or issue, not for an annual physical. Many women inform me that they do not have a general physician, only an Ob/Gyn.

I would HIGHLY recommend that you complete an annual physical with your general physician. If you don't have a general physician, ask your friends or family members for referrals to theirs. If you are a female, make sure to have at least an Ob/Gyn AND a general physician. Consider this, if you have an ear or sinus infection, you may want to seek the advice of a medical physician, who handles these specific conditions on a regular basis. I am sure your Ob/Gyn doctor will appreciate it too, as I suspect their practice is already busy enough addressing issues specific to their practice.

Confirm with your general physician that you are concerned about your family history of disease and ask what tests that can be completed to determine your risk for the specific condition. Also, ask what other known risks (ie. smoking, poor dietary intake, caffeine intake, salt intake, low activity level) may also contribute to those known family diseases.  

Even if you don't have any known family health concerns, make sure you request risk assessment testing for at least the most common health conditions. You may not want to know the results, but it is better to know early on in the course of any disease rather than later. In most cases, early treatment for a specific health condition allows for a more positive outcome.

Because of the many unique features of the eye, optometrists can identify early signs and symptoms of many systemic conditions like diabetes, systemic hypertension, heart disease, high cholesterol, some neurological conditions, thyroid disease, some systemic inflammatory conditions, some rare genetic conditions, medication toxicity, etc. Make sure your eye doctor is aware of your health history and your family health history.  If your optometrist suspects any of these conditions, confirm with them that they will write a letter to your medical doctor regarding their suspicions and/or diagnosis. 

Talk to your family members about what diagnosis have been identified in your family. As our family members age, they are potentially being diagnosed with more conditions that are good for you, your general physician and your eye doctor to know.

Don't just make appointments to you general physician for specific signs or symptoms, make an effort to schedule an annual physical where a general health assessment may be performed. Schedule annual dilated eye exams with your optometrist to evaluate your ocular health and rule out any signs of systemic health concerns.

In future postings here, I will exhibit pictures from our cameras that we use in our practice to document eye disease and how it relates to concerns for systemic involvement. I am going to explain in easy to understand language how a comprehensive eye exam can detect many systemic health conditions.  On a daily basis, I encounter in my practice multiple eye conditions that relate to a person's systemic health.  The most common are high cholesterol, systemic hypertension and diabetes so schedule an eye exam with your optometrist today if you have not had your eyes examined in the last 12 months.