What is "bright's disease"

Bright's disease \Bright's" dis*ease"\ [From Dr. Bright of London, who first described it.] (Med.) An affection of the kidneys, usually inflammatory in character, and distinguished by the occurrence of albumin and renal casts in the urine. Several varieties of Bright's disease are now recognized, differing in the part of the kidney involved, and in the intensity and course of the morbid process.

"chronic nephritis," 1831, so called for English physician Richard Bright (1789-1858), who in 1827 first described it.

Bright's disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases that would be described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. It was characterized by edema, the presence of albumin in the urine and was frequently accompanied by high blood pressure ( hypertension).