ABSTRACT
Johann Sebastian Bach suffered during the last year of his life of a progressive visual defect despite two operations done by a famous but quite controversial English ocular surgeon of that time. The exact diagnosis of his ocular problems is unclear but cataracts and complicated glaucoma seem the most plausible. A septic complication following the ocular surgery could have weakened Bach's health leading to his death only three months after the last intervention. In this paper diverse less known aspects of Bach's disease and life are reported.
Subject(s)
Humans , History, 17th Century , History, 18th Century , Vision Disorders/history , Famous Persons , Music/history , Ophthalmology/history , Physicians , Vision Disorders/surgery , England , GermanyABSTRACT
Sushruta classified and mentioned visual disorders in his classical text of 'Sushruta Samhita' under 76 eye diseases and also classified structural and treatment wise. Many authorities of the subject have praised Sushruta in their works and regarded him as a pioneer of ophthalmology. The saying 'nayanam pradhanam' shows that, without it there is no correspondence with external world. Sushruta showed a special interest in 'Drushtigata Rogas' and described thirteen such diseases. The visual disorders described in ancient Indian medical science by Sushruta are enlightened and presented in this paper analytically, diagramatically with the help of modern ophthalmology.