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High blood pressure increases your risk of stroke, which happens when a blood vessel in your brain bleeds or becomes blocked. This can cause blind spots in your vision, if it is in the part of the brain that you use to see with. High blood pressure also increases the likelihood of a blood vessel in your eye bleeding or becoming blocked which may seriously affect your vision and in some cases lead to total sight loss in one eye. Having high cholesterol also increases your risk of stroke. Make sure you eat a healthy balanced diet that is low in fatty food, take regular exercise and, if you smoke, give up. If you’re aged 40 to 74, you can get your cholesterol checked as part of an NHS Health Check.

Having high blood pressure also increases your risk of developing glaucoma. Glaucoma is when the pressure inside your eye damages the optic nerve at the back of your eye.