Bright's Disease

Bright's Disease (of the kidneys), so called after Dr Richard Bright (q.v.), who first investigated its character. In 1827 he published a work in which he showed that dropsy is frequently associated with inflammatory changes in the kidneys, and an abnormal condition of the urine. When we apply heat or certain chemical reagents to the urine in such a case, it becomes opaque, showing that it contains Albumen (q.v.); and on examining the sediment under the microscope, we observe exuded lymph mixed with epithelium in the form of casts of the small ducts of the diseased organ. Further research has shown that these conditions of the urine occur in connection with several distinct affections of the kidney, varying much in duration, severity, and danger to life; and, while Bright's disease is retained as a generic term for the whole group, more precise names are applied to the several diseases included in it—e.g. acute inflammatory, cirrhotic, &c., Bright's disease, or nephritis. See KIDNEY (DISEASES OF).