F.A.O Sqad

[MissCommando]

Can a Doctor be 100% certain that a patient is not anaemic just from looking at the inside of their eyes?

Thanks

[237SJ]

From the discussion that I had with my optician today, I would say no. There are a lot of conditions that can be diagnosed from the eyes (high cholesterol, lack of oxygen to the cornea resulting in increased growth of blood vessels, and indicators of MS but I would be surprised if anaemia is one of them. Even if it can be diagnosed, it would be diagnosed from an optician (an expert) rather than a doctor. I await a telling off from Sqad however :-)

[ojread2]

I thought the whites had a blue hue to them if you were anaemic? Although I think you need to be pretty bad for that to happen, so no, I doubt your GP can state categorically you don't have anaemia just by looking at the eyes

[Eve]

There are different types of anaemia as well.

I always thought a possible indication was in when you pulled your lower eyelid down it was very pale but it was only an possible indicator and needed a blood test to confirm. Not sure about the other way around though. I guess other symptoms or indicators would likely come into play as to the likelihood of anaemia and whether it is worth testing.

[york310]

No. Anaemic retinopathy would usually only be present if the anaemia was severe and the findings are fairly similar to other retinal changes such as diabetic or hypertensive retinopathy.

[MissCommando]

Oh goodness, I worded this incorrectly. I meant like you said Jenna, by pulling the lower eyelid down.

My niece has been quite poorly lately, always very tired and looks very pale. My sister has been back and forth to the docs and they always fob her off. The last doc who saw her (who had never seen her before) said she wasn't pale and said she definitely wasn't anaemic (this was from pulling her bottom eyelids down).

Anyway, he is going to refer my niece (who is only 20 months) for blood tests now to put my sister's mind at rest.

[Sqad]

237SJ

\\\ I await a telling off from Sqad however :-)\\

How about a "spanking" instead? ;-)

Nothing is 100% certain in medicine...BUT...if the conjunctiva is a healthy red colour then it is unlikely that the patient is anaemic.
It was a routine part of the physical examination of medical students but i doubt that is is still considered important.