A short-sighted woman who assumed her persistent and debilitating headaches meant she needed stronger lenses was shocked when she discovered she had multiple sclerosis. Prescribed glasses when she first experienced headaches, aged 15, ever since, Lauren Percival, 29, had found any recurrence meant she needed a new pair.
But when her optician found no change in her eyesight and conducted an optical coherence tomography (OCT) test, which examines the retina, they detected quadrantanopia, or a loss of vision in one of the quarters of the visual field, which can indicate multiple sclerosis (MS).
Referred to the nearby Torbay Hospital, soon after Lauren, of Torbay, Devon, had it confirmed that she had MS – a lifelong condition affecting the brain and spinal cord – saying: “It came as a complete shock. I never expected to be diagnosed with something like MS.
