Scientists have found that the tiny blood vessels at the back of the eye can tell us a lot about our overall health, especially when it comes to blood pressure and heart disease.
In a recent study led by researchers at St George’s, University of London, and other institutions, scientists discovered 119 parts of human DNA that influence the size and shape of these eye blood vessels.
The back of the eye, known as the retina, contains small arteries and veins that are easy to see with a special camera. These blood vessels are important because they reflect the condition of blood vessels throughout the rest of the body.
Taking high-quality digital images of the retina is simple and quick, making it a useful way for doctors and scientists to study the body’s blood vessel health without doing anything invasive.
It has long been known that certain changes in the shape or size of these retinal blood vessels are linked to serious health problems such as high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. But until now, scientists didn’t fully understand how a person’s genes play a role in shaping these vessels.
In this new study, researchers used images from almost 53,000 people who had taken part in a major health research project called the UK Biobank. This project includes health and genetic information from hundreds of thousands of people in the UK, making it a powerful tool for medical research.
To help them analyze so many eye images quickly, the scientists used artificial intelligence (AI). The AI program was able to tell arteries and veins apart and measure how wide the vessels were and how much they twisted and turned. Some vessels are very straight, while others are more wavy or curly—a feature the researchers called “twisting.”
After studying the eye images, the team looked at the participants’ DNA to see if people with similar blood vessel shapes had any genetic similarities. They used a method called a genome-wide association study (GWAS), which looks across the entire DNA sequence of many people to find patterns.
The results were impressive. The scientists found 119 places in the human genome that are related to how blood vessels in the retina look. Of those, 89 were specifically linked to how much the arteries twist. This feature—how twisted the arteries are—turned out to be the one most strongly controlled by genetics.
Even more important, they found that having more twisting in the retinal arteries could actually lead to higher diastolic blood pressure, which is the pressure in your arteries when your heart is resting between beats. This kind of blood pressure has been linked to a higher risk of heart disease.
The researchers believe that this twisting might make the arteries work less efficiently, causing problems with blood flow and pressure over time.
This discovery could help scientists and doctors in the future. By better understanding the genetic links between blood vessel shape and health, new treatments or early warning systems could be developed. For example, a simple eye scan might one day help doctors spot people at risk for heart disease before any symptoms appear.
The study, led by Professor Christopher Owen and his team, was published in the journal PLOS Genetics. It adds a valuable piece to the puzzle of how our genes and blood vessels affect our heart health.
Other research has shown that naps, diet, and certain minerals like zinc may also play a role in managing blood pressure and heart disease. For example, beetroot juice has been found to help lower blood pressure in some people. And keeping blood pressure under control through lifestyle or medical treatment can also protect the heart muscle from damage.
Together, these studies suggest that protecting your heart could be as simple as caring for your eyes, eating well, and getting enough rest.
If you care about high blood pressure, please read studies that early time-restricted eating could help improve blood pressure, and natural coconut sugar could help reduce blood pressure and artery stiffness.
For more health information, please see recent studies about added sugar in your diet linked to higher blood pressure, and results showing vitamin D could improve blood pressure in people with diabetes.
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