Regular eye exams are highly recommended, as vision and eye issues need to be kept track of and taken care of as quickly as possible. They're also important because the eyes tell a lot about your overall health, and can show early signs of health issues, which can help you treat them before they become serious. Here's a list of some of the health issues an eye exam can detect.

It's possible for your eye doctor to notice specks of blood in the back of your eyes during an eye exam. This can be a sign of diabetic retinopathy, which affects the blood vessels in the retina and can cause blindness. It usually doesn't have symptoms in the early stages, but can cause eye pain, floating spots, and blurry vision. An eye doctor can catch signs of diabetic retinopathy before you get diagnosed with diabetes, making it possible to get treatment and help avoid serious side effects.

The blood vessels in the eyes can tell a lot about your health, and if they've begun to leak, narrow, harden, or swell, it can be a sign of high blood pressure. High blood pressure can cause strokes and heart attacks and can lead to glaucoma. 

Getting it under control will reduce the risk of these events, and the earlier it's caught, the easier it is to change your lifestyle habits and get ahead of the life-threatening aspects of high blood pressure.