High blood pressure can be first diagnosed when changes in the blood vessels of the eye are found. Sickle cell disease also can cause abnormal retinal vessels as well as bleeding inside the retina. Sickle cell eye disease can sometimes lead to blindness if not treated with laser therapy. Multiple sclerosis can cause eye movement problems as well as optic nerve disease causing loss of vision. Neurologic diseases such as multiple sclerosis may be first suspected when an eye doctor finds changes in eye movement, vision or the function of the optic nerve.
Cancer can start in the eye or can spread to the eye.
Tumors of the eye are rare, however. Depending on its location, an eye tumor may or may not distort vision at an early stage. Brain tumors also may affect vision by causing swelling of the optic nerve. Occasionally, a doctor may first suspect a brain tumor after finding optic nerve swelling on an eye exam. Diseases other than those mentioned above also can affect the eye.