I went to the doctor and I was told I have high cholesterol. Can this affect my eyes?

Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance that is found in all the cells of your body. You get cholesterol from two sources. Your body produces most of it, as it is used by the body in several ways, and you get it from certain foods you eat. Foods like meat, poultry, eggs, butter, cheese, whole milk are all sources of cholesterol. Plant foods like greens, fruits and vegetables don’t have cholesterol. High levels of cholesterol in the blood, especially of LDL, the ‘bad’ form of cholesterol, can lead to blockage of the arteries. If your doctor feels you have high cholesterol, the first thing to do is modify your diet to try to cut down on the foods high in cholesterol. Your doctor will probably advise you to exercise more. If these treatments don’t work, then you will need to take medicines to help lower the cholesterol.

High levels of LDL cause plaques to form on the inside of the arteries, and these make the width of the arteries smaller. These plaques are made up of platelets, fibrin, and cholesterol. This is called atherosclerosis. If this happens in the vessels going to the heart, it can cause a heart attack, and if in the vessels to the brain, a stroke. A plaque can burst, or a piece can flake away, and this piece can travel to a smaller blood vessel and block it, like a clot.

If this happens in the retina, the part of the retina that is fed blood by that artery is not getting the nutrients required to keep it healthy, and the retina in that area is damaged. If it happens in the central retinal artery, which is the main vessel bringing blood to the eye, the whole retina is damaged and the vision is usually permanently lost or decreased.

If the arteries in the neck, the carotid arteries, are damaged by plaque, they can cause short-term blurring of the vision as the blood supply through these vessels actually feeds the eyes. Pieces of this material can travel into the retinal arterial circulation and can be seen by your eye specialist as tiny white blocks in the artery. These are called hollenhorst plaques. If you notice your vision going blurry for 5-15 minutes, this is a transient (short term) ischaemic (lack of oxygen) attack and one of the tests you will be sent for is a cholesterol test to see if the cholesterol is high and contributing to the problem. Another is a carotid Doppler, an ultrasound of the artery.

As you can see, high cholesterol affects several parts of the body, and if you have never had your cholesterol checked, you should do so. If you have been diagnosed with high cholesterol, take the necessary steps to get it under control.