What the Eyes Tell
THE EYES.—The belief that one can diagnose diseases of the body from an observation of the eyes alone is wide-spread. While in a majority of cases this is impossible, yet a careful observation of the eyes and the eyelids may be helpful.
Thus paleness of the conjunctiva of the eyelid should make us suspect anemia; bloodshot eyes suggest excessive heart action or cerebral congestion (acute alcoholism) or local irrita¬tion or inflammation; while a yellow conjunctiva is common in liver diseases, especially in jaundice. An acute inflamma¬tion of the conjunctiva is often the first symptom of measles or whooping cough and is present in simple conjunctivitis, pinkeye, iritis, hay-fever, and when a foreign body is in the eye. A frequently recurring conjunctivitis, especially when it affects one eye only, is very characteristic of scrofula. In¬flammation and ulceration of the cornea (keratitis) is fre¬quently an expression of a rheumatic, tuberculous, diabetic or malnourished condition, or of a gonorrheal or congenital syphilitic infection, or of meningitis. A contracted pupil is seen in brain anemia, first stage of brain compression, third stage of brain concussion, apoplexy, sunstroke, uremia, from aconite and opium, and in morphine and alcohol addicts, al¬though in acute alcoholism the pupils are dilated.
A pupil which does not react to light (is fixed) is seen in locomotor ataxia, general paralysis of the insane and tem- ■ porarily in acute infections. Cataract, especially when the individual is young, should always arouse suspicion of diabetes. Marked disturbances of vision are common in hysteria, dia¬betes, Bright’s disease, locomotor ataxia, arterial sclerosis and in some blood diseases. Intolerance of light (photophobia) is present especially in conjunctivitis, iritis, measles, migraine and retinitis.