The first adequate description of recurring retinal hemorrhages in young adults was given by Henry Eales in 1880.1 In 18822 he further summarized the characteristics of his earlier reported cases in a paper entitled "Primary Retinal Haemorrhage in Young Men." His first impression was that all patients with this condition suffer from severe constipation and epistaxis. He later elaborated on this theory in the following manner:
From the absence of any evidence of any of the various blood conditions known to cause haemorrhage; from the absence of albuminuria, diabetes, gout, syphilis, andof any high arterial tension; from the character of the haemorrhage, and from the evidence of local variations of circulation; and from the slow pulse, constipation, flushing of the face, headache, and puffiness and discolouration of the eyes, I am inclined to attribute this combination of conditions to a neurosis affecting both the circulatory organs and the