Brights Disease

Bright's Disease. A name given to certain affections of the kidney. Dr. Blackall (1771-1860) first pointed out the frequent association of dropsy with a diseased condition of the urine (albuminuria), and following up the line of investigation pursued by Blackall, Dr. Richard Bright in 1836 demonstrated that the cause of the albuminous condition of the urine in cases of dropsy was traceable, in many instances, to inflammation of the kidneys. In the healthy body the albuminous substances in the blood and tissue fluids do not pass through the epithelium of the Malpighian corpuscles (q.v.) and urinary tubules (q.v.), and consequently the urine contains no albumen. When the epithelial cells are injured, however, in disease, they lose their power of keeping back the albumen, and albuminuria results. The term Bright's Disease is a convenient one, and is still applied to certain inflammatory affections of the kidneys.