Why the Eye?
The eyes offer invaluable clues to our overall health
The eye has many "biomarkers" that provide information about what is happening in areas of the body hidden from direct view such as the brain and the inside of arteries elsewhere in the body.
- The eye is one of the most accessible and sensitive organs in the body that can alert you to the presence of disease long before it becomes apparent elsewhere. This phenomenon occurs because the body is composed of systems such as the blood vessels, lymph tissue and the nerves and all these tissues exist and are represented in the eye.
- What happens in one part of a system is a reflection of what is happening in other parts. For example, if we see signs of certain types of plaque in the eye, it signals the likelihood that the plaque may be in the brain.
- Inflammation is one of the mechanisms our immune system uses to combat disease. The inflammatory process can be beneficial as when it alerts us that we are getting sunburned or in fighting off infectious diseases. When inflammation becomes chronic it can create long term health problems such as cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease, arthritis, Type II diabetes, multiple sclerosis and various eye diseases (see below). The cause of the type of inflammation that causes these disease often remains elusive but can be treated if detected early.
- Your eye doctor can observe signs of inflammation in the eye that enable treatment at the earliest possible time to slow down, stop, or even reverse certain diseases of aging.
The eye examination
The means of examining the lens of the eye is the slit lamp microscope. This instrument has been in continuous use, albeit with improvements, since it was invented in Sweden in 1911 by Allvar Gullstrand. With adaptations, the slit lamp is the instrument used in Eyes2Health technology for the early detection of diseases of aging.
Eyes2Health is developing an eyepiece adapter to work with a digital camera, software and a 'black box' built around an algorithm that enables a reliable, consistent, and valid measurement process for early detection of disease. The technology also enables the identification and analysis of change as a result of treatment.
Eye diseases and diseases of aging
Nuclear Cataracts
Nuclear cataracts are opacities that develop in the nucleas or center of the crystalline lens of the eye.
Cataracts typically progress slowly causing vision loss, and are potentially blinding if untreated.
Nuclear cataracts are caused known to be worsened by environmental influences such as U.V. (sunglight) but emerging research indicates there is also link between other inflammatory based diseases occuring in the the body such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes and the development of nuclear cataracts.
Cortical Cataracts
Cortical cataracts form in the “cortex” or outer edge of the lens of the eye. These cataracts seldom impact vision in their early development.
The substance found in cortical cataract is identical to the substance found in “plaques” in brains of patients with neurodegenerative disease such as Alzheimer’s.
Glaucoma
Glaucoma is a disease of the optic nerve.
People with glaucoma very often have chronic inflammatory-based diseases such as cardiovascular disease.
Recent research linked optic nerve changes to Alzheimer’s disease.
Drusen and Macular Disease
Drusen are accumulations of material that build up in the retina (macula) of the eye as a result of chronic inflammation.
Drusen and cortical cataracts are comprised of the same material found in the plaques in the brains of Alzheimer’s disease patients.
Research has shown a link between the presence of drusen and cardiovascular and other inflammatory based systemic diseases.
Optic Neuritis
Optic Neuritis is an inflammation of the optic nerve that may cause complete or partial loss of vision.
This type inflammation is the result of underlying cardiovascular or neurodegenerative disease.