Waren Tay (1843 – 15 May 1927) was a British ophthalmologist who was a native of

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

. In 1881 Waren (often misspelt Warren) Tay first described the red spot on the

retina The retina (from la, rete "net") is the innermost, light-sensitive layer of tissue of the eye of most vertebrates and some molluscs. The optics of the eye create a focused two-dimensional image of the visual world on the retina, which then ...

of the eye that is present in

Tay–Sachs disease Tay–Sachs disease is a genetic disorder that results in the destruction of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. The most common form is infantile Tay–Sachs disease, which becomes apparent around three to six months of age, with the baby ...

. He reported this condition in the Volume I edition of the Ophthalmological Society, an organization in which he was a founding member. Here he described the symptoms in a child who also had

neurological Neurology (from el, νεῦρον (neûron), "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the brain, the spinal c ...

problems. Later in the Volume IV edition, he gave a complete description of the clinical symptoms of the disorder, and also reported that another member from the same family had this retinal condition. In 1874 at the London Ophthalmic Hospital, Tay was the first to describe a condition that consisted of small white or yellow dots in the choroid around the

macula The macula (/ˈmakjʊlə/) or macula lutea is an oval-shaped pigmented area in the center of the retina of the human eye and in other animals. The macula in humans has a diameter of around and is subdivided into the umbo, foveola, foveal av ...

in the eye, which are the manifestations of senile

macular degeneration Macular degeneration, also known as age-related macular degeneration (AMD or ARMD), is a medical condition which may result in blurred or no vision in the center of the visual field. Early on there are often no symptoms. Over time, however, som ...

. Nowadays, this condition is sometimes referred to as "Hutchinson's disease", named after Tay's mentor, surgeon

Jonathan Hutchinson Sir Jonathan Hutchinson (23 July 1828 – 23 June 1913), was an English surgeon, ophthalmologist, dermatologist, venereologist, and pathologist. Life He was born in Selby, Yorkshire, of Quaker parents and educated in the local school. Then he ...

. Tay himself had

glaucoma Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that result in damage to the optic nerve (or retina) and cause vision loss. The most common type is open-angle (wide angle, chronic simple) glaucoma, in which the drainage angle for fluid within the eye rem ...

and was blind in one eye. He was a keen cyclist, and he was described by his friends as "a walking encyclopaedia of medicine".Tay-Sachsin tauti – Kehitysvammahuollon tietopankki
at www.saunalahti.fi

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External links

Who Named It ''Whonamedit?'' is an online English-language dictionary of medical eponyms and the people associated with their identification. Though it is a dictionary, many eponyms and persons are presented in extensive articles with comprehensive bibliograp ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tay, Waren 1843 births 1927 deaths British ophthalmologists Medical doctors from Yorkshire