We've heard of people crying tears of joy, but tears of blood?
It may sound pretty strange, but the mysterious condition has cropped up in the past. Now, Yaritza Oliva, a 20-year-old Chilean woman who cries blood, is the latest person believed to suffer from haemolacria.
According to local reports, Oliva started to inexplicably bleed from her eyes earlier this month. At the time, doctors were baffled by the symptoms and prescribed eye drops to ease the pain, which Oliva said is "indescribable."
A simple eye infection and conjunctivitis -- inflammation of the eye -- were ruled out since Oliva continued to shed tears of blood several times per day. Her family did not have the means to enlist and expert, so they asked others to donate funds so that a specialist could determine the cause of the bleeding and treat Oliva, 24 Horas reports.
While doctors have not officially diagnosed the 20-year-old, it's likely that she is one of several people to develop haemolacria, a rare condition marked by bleeding from the eyes.
In 2009, a teenage boy was found to have similar symptoms, crying blood up to three times a day. Doctors tentatively stated that the condition is haemolacria, but they said they had to confirm the finding since the unusual symptom has presented itself in patients who have other ailments.
In March, for example, a Canadian man began crying tears of blood. From his other symptoms, which included bleeding from various areas of his body, a medical team determined a venomous snake bite was the culprit and administered an anti-venom.
Though studies on haemolacria have dated back to the 1970s, very little is known about the rare physical condition or what causes it.
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