Ophthalmia
Encyclopedia
Ophthalmia is inflammation of the eye. It is a medical sign
which may be indicative of various conditions, including sympathetic ophthalmia
(inflammation of both eyes following trauma to one eye), gonococcal
ophthalmia, trachoma
or "Egypt
ian" ophthalmia, ophthalmia neonatorum
(a conjunctivitis
of the newborn due to either of the two previous pathogens), actinic conjunctivitis
(inflammation resulting from prolonged exposure to ultraviolet rays), and others.
Medical sign
A medical sign is an objective indication of some medical fact or characteristic that may be detected by a physician during a physical examination of a patient....
which may be indicative of various conditions, including sympathetic ophthalmia
Sympathetic ophthalmia
Sympathetic ophthalmia is a granulomatous uveitis of both eyes following trauma to one eye. It can leave the patient completely blind. Symptoms may develop from days to several years after a penetrating eye injury. See also the reviews by Damico et al. , Chu and Foster , and Friedlaender et al...
(inflammation of both eyes following trauma to one eye), gonococcal
Neisseria gonorrhoeae
Neisseria gonorrhoeae, also known as gonococci , or gonococcus , is a species of Gram-negative coffee bean-shaped diplococci bacteria responsible for the sexually transmitted infection gonorrhea.N...
ophthalmia, trachoma
Trachoma
Trachoma is an infectious disease causing a characteristic roughening of the inner surface of the eyelids. Also called granular conjunctivitis and Egyptian ophthalmia, it is the leading cause of infectious blindness in the world...
or "Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ian" ophthalmia, ophthalmia neonatorum
Ophthalmia neonatorum
Neonatal conjunctivitis, also known as ophthalmia neonatorum, is a form of bacterial conjunctivitis contracted by newborns during delivery. The baby's eyes are contaminated during passage through the birth canal from a mother infected with either Neisseria gonorrhoeae or Chlamydia trachomatis....
(a conjunctivitis
Conjunctivitis
Conjunctivitis refers to inflammation of the conjunctiva...
of the newborn due to either of the two previous pathogens), actinic conjunctivitis
Actinic conjunctivitis
Actinic conjunctivitis is an inflammation of the eye contracted from prolonged exposure to actinic rays. Symptoms are redness and swelling of the eyes. Most often the condition is caused by prolonged exposure to Klieg lights, therapeutic lamps, or acetylene torches...
(inflammation resulting from prolonged exposure to ultraviolet rays), and others.
Noted historical sufferers
- Hannibal's sight was lost in his right eye in 223 B.C. by what was likely ophthalmia.
- Citing Galatians 4:13-15 and 6:11, Restoration MovementRestoration MovementThe Restoration Movement is a Christian movement that began on the American frontier during the Second Great Awakening of the early 19th century...
scholar J. W. McGarveyJohn William McGarveyJohn William McGarvey was a minister, author, and religious educator in the American Restoration Movement. He was particularly associated with the College of the Bible in Lexington, Kentucky where he taught for 46 years, serving as president from 1895-1911...
theorized that ophthalmia may have very well been the Apostle Paul'sPaul of TarsusPaul the Apostle , also known as Saul of Tarsus, is described in the Christian New Testament as one of the most influential early Christian missionaries, with the writings ascribed to him by the church forming a considerable portion of the New Testament...
"thorn in the flesh" (2 Cor. 12:7).
- King John of Bohemia, who died in battle in 1346 at age 50 after being blind for a decade, lost his sight to this general condition.
- Ophthalmitis was a common disease of sailors, possibly related to scurvyScurvyScurvy is a disease resulting from a deficiency of vitamin C, which is required for the synthesis of collagen in humans. The chemical name for vitamin C, ascorbic acid, is derived from the Latin name of scurvy, scorbutus, which also provides the adjective scorbutic...
or poor nutrition. In the book "Negro Builders and Heroes" by Benjamin BrawleyBenjamin Griffith BrawleyBenjamin Griffith Brawley was a prominent African American author and educator. He studied at Atlanta Baptist College graduating in 1901, the University of Chicago, and received his Master's degree from Harvard University in 1908...
in the chapter entitled "The Wake of the Slave-Ship" is described this condition afflicting, on slave ships, sometimes the whole crew and captive slaves. Christopher ColumbusChristopher ColumbusChristopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...
suffered ophthalmitis late in his life.
- Elizabeth BlackwellElizabeth BlackwellElizabeth Blackwell was the first female doctor in the United States and the first on the UK Medical Register...
, the first female physician in the United States, lost an eye from purulent ophthalmia contracted from an infant with an eye infection, while working in Paris at La Maternité (1849), and after loss of the eye could no longer be a surgeon.
- The Spanish composer and guitar virtuoso Francisco TárregaFrancisco TárregaFrancisco de Asís Tárrega y Eixea was an influential Spanish composer and guitarist of the Romantic period.-Biography:Tárrega was born on 21 November 1852, in Vila-real, Castelló, Spain...
also suffered from ophthalmia and seriously impaired sight after a traumatic childhood event (1850s).
- Richard Henry Dana, Jr.Richard Henry Dana, Jr.Richard Henry Dana Jr. was an American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts, a descendant of an eminent colonial family who gained renown as the author of the American classic, the memoir Two Years Before the Mast...
, author of the American classic, Two Years Before the Mast (1840), developed "a weakness of the eyes" after contracting measles while a junior at Harvard College. In an attempt to cure his condition, he undertook a two-year sailing voyage to California from Boston via Cape Horn, which provided the experiences for his memoir. The cure worked.