Find information on thousands of medical conditions and prescription drugs.

Bright's disease

Bright's disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases that would be described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. The term is no longer used, as diseases are now classified according to their more fully-understood etiologies. more...

Home
Diseases
A
B
Babesiosis
Bacterial endocarditis
Bacterial food poisoning
Bacterial meningitis
Bacterial pneumonia
Balantidiasis
Bangstad syndrome
Bardet-Biedl syndrome
Bardet-Biedl syndrome
Bardet-Biedl syndrome
Bardet-Biedl syndrome
Barrett syndrome
Barth syndrome
Basal cell carcinoma
Bathophobia
Batrachophobia
Batten disease
Becker's muscular dystrophy
Becker's nevus
Behcet syndrome
Behr syndrome
Bejel
Bell's palsy
Benign congenital hypotonia
Benign essential tremor...
Benign fasciculation...
Benign paroxysmal...
Berdon syndrome
Berger disease
Beriberi
Berylliosis
Besnier-Boeck-Schaumann...
Bibliophobia
Bicuspid aortic valve
Biliary atresia
Binswanger's disease
Biotinidase deficiency
Bipolar disorder
Birt-Hogg-Dube syndrome
Blastoma
Blastomycosis
Blepharitis
Blepharospasm
Bloom syndrome
Blue diaper syndrome
Blue rubber bleb nevus
Body dysmorphic disorder
Boil
Borreliosis
Botulism
Bourneville's disease
Bowen's disease
Brachydactyly
Brachydactyly type a1
Bradykinesia
Bright's disease
Brittle bone disease
Bromidrosiphobia
Bronchiectasis
Bronchiolotis obliterans...
Bronchopulmonary dysplasia
Brown-Sequard syndrome
Brucellosis
Brugada syndrome
Bubonic plague
Budd-Chiari syndrome
Buerger's disease
Bulimia nervosa
Bullous pemphigoid
Burkitt's lymphoma
Byssinosis
Cavernous angioma
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
Medicines

It is typically denoted by the presence of albumin (blood plasma) in the urine, and frequently accompanied by edema (tissue particulate).

These associated symptoms in connection with kidney disease were first described in 1827 by noted English physician Dr. Richard Bright. Since that time, it has been established that the symptoms, instead of being, as was formerly supposed, the result of one form of disease of the kidneys, may be dependent on various morbid conditions of those organs. Thus, the term Bright's disease, which is retained in medical nomenclature in honor of Dr. Bright, must be understood as having a strictly historical application.

The symptoms are usually of a severe nature. Back pain, vomiting and fever commonly signal an attack. Edema, varying in degree from slight puffiness of the face to an accumulation of fluid sufficient to distend the whole body, and sometimes severely restrict breathing, is a very common ailment. The urine is reduced in quantity, is of dark, smoky or bloody color, and exhibits to chemical reaction the presence of a large amount of albumin, while, under the microscope, blood corpuscles and casts, as above mentioned, are found in abundance.

This state of acute inflammation may severely limit normal daily activities, and if left unchecked, may lead to one of the chronic forms of Bright's disease. In many cases though, the inflammation is reduced, marked by increased urine output and the gradual disappearance of its albumen and other abnormal by-products. A reduction in edema and a rapid recovery of strength usually follows.

Acute Bright's disease was treated with local depletion, warm baths, diuretics, and laxatives. There was no successful treatment for chronic Bright's disease, though dietary modifications were sometimes suggested.

Read more at Wikipedia.org


[List your site here Free!]


Lydia Cassatt: Reading the Morning Paper - Book Review
From Kliatt, 9/1/02 by Edna M. Boardman

Harriet Scott Chessman. 2001/2002. Read by the author. 4 tapes. 4 hrs. Chivers North America. 0-7927-2547-6. $44.95. Vinyl; plot, author notes. SA

Lydia Cassatt, a sister seven years older than Mary (called May in the story), models for five of Mary's early Impressionistic paintings (done in the late 1870s-1880s). Lydia has Bright's disease, a form of kidney failure, and death cannot be far away. Yet, on many days, Lydia struggles one step at a time down five flights of stairs and travels the short distance to Mary's Paris studio. Lydia is intrigued by the paintings, which show her healthy and beautiful. She says, "To pose, after all, is to agree to a form of enchantment," and, as her strength wanes, "To refuse to pose is a form of betrayal."

This heartwarming book, told in present tense from Lydia's point of view, is a fictionalized account of Lydia's struggle to retain meaning in her life in the face of suffering; her world fades as Mary's expands. The reader sees Mary's heartbreak at her sister's illness and her unusual drive to establish and win professional status. Edgar Degas, who may be Mary's lover, enters the story briefly.

Chessman reads her own work with a crisp, deliberate delivery that helps the listener enter Lydia's mind and heart. Will be well liked by a broad spectrum of listeners. Edna M. Boardman, Bismark, ND

COPYRIGHT 2002 Kliatt
COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group

Return to Bright's disease
Home Contact Resources Exchange Links ebay