Ocular Side Effects of Systemic Medication

Sloan, Philip G.

doi:10.1111/j.1444-0938.1962.tb01604.x

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…A pristine, white sclera is a versatile and sensitive measure of health. In varying degrees, scleral redness is a symptom of numerous major and minor, acute and chronic pathologies of the eye and body (Leibowitz 2000;Murphy et al 2007), including conjunctivitis (viral and bacterial) (Mueller & McStay 2008), episcleritis, uveitis, chemical and physical irritation of the eye, dry eye, eye trauma, glaucoma, allergy (Donshik 1988), hypertension, diabetes (Owen et al 2005), sickle cell disease (Paton 1961), autoimmune disease, rheumatoid arthritis, sleep deprivation, weeping, and drug use (Sloan 1962;McLane & Carroll 1986). If we add yellow to the scleral palette, the sclera also signals liver disease ('jaundice') (Roche & Kobos 2004) and aging (Broekhuyse 1975;Watson & Young 2004).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

When the Whites of the Eyes are Red: A Uniquely Human Cue

et al. 2011

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Redness of the human eye is produced primarily by vasodilation of blood vessels of the conjunctiva, a membrane positioned over the sclera, the eye’s tough, white outer layer. Reddened eyes are a uniquely human cue because other primates lack the background of white sclera necessary to make the reddened conjunctiva visible. This study evaluates red eyes as a social and biological cue by contrasting the perception of eyes with normal ‘whites’ with copies of those eyes whose sclera were reddened by digital editing. Individuals with reddened sclera were perceived as sadder, less healthy, and less attractive than individuals with normal (white) sclera. Scleral whiteness joins such cues as smooth skin, long, lustrous hair, symmetry, averageness and sexually dimorphic traits as signs of health, beauty and reproductive fitness.

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