No, it's not a miracle. Although in centuries past the extremely rare condition was considered a divine manifestation, the symptoms of haemolacria are very real, although scientists still don't know why it occurs.
The young man from Tennessee pictured above has had the condition since early childhood. It manifests itself as a strong headache first and then from the bleeding through the eyes, and sometimes nose and mouth.
With time, the incidence, which used to be almost daily, has slowed to once a week or less, but the doctors who are observing him now for two decades have no clues as to where his problem originates.
Haemolacria can happen to anyone following a head trauma, but in people like the young man in Tennessee there is no organic cause of the condition.
The phenomenon of Haemolacra is not new. Through the centuries there have been recorded cases of the condition, especially in women, who were believed to be menstruating from their eyes, literally, instead of through their birth canal. More often however, it was used as an example of divine intervention, or of a particular gift bestowed upon a religious person.
But since boys too have the condition, doctors are trying to find out what the underlying cause is.
The state of Tennessee, in addition, is the state that has other cases of the rare condition, posing even more questions for the researchers.
The condition is a severe handicap. Apart from the strong migraines that precede the disgorgement of blood, the patients who suffer it cannot find proper work, since no one wants to be exposed to someone who suddenly starts to bleed.
The silver lining however, is that the condition eventually resolves on its own with the onset of adulthood.
But that does not help the sufferers as long as the condition subsists. They are made fun of, ridiculed, and mostly shunned. Until the condition ceases, they are relegated to a life lived in the seclusion of their homes.
Source : live Science/ 10.18.13
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