Red Eye on photo shows serious health problem?

[TTG]

Dear Answer Bank.

I read somewhere that a person had his picture taken and one eye was red (normal 'red-eye' effect) but the other showed as a strange whitish/yellow colour. Apparantly there was a serious medical condition near or directly behind the eye with the strange colour. It needed an operation.

I have taken a recent picture of a friend and its the same effect. One red-eye....the other a white/yellow tinge. There is no direct light overhead. Could anyone clarify?

[nutgoneflake]

Your friend needs to see a doctor and explain the reason he/she is there. Take the photo. It could be something or nothing, but I've read this a few times, most recently how it happened to a little girl who had a tumour behind her eye so the light didn't reflect back properly. She had an operation to remove it, and lost her eye too. Please don't scare your friend with that, but make sure he/she gets it checked out immediately.

[daffy654]

You could always advise your friend to visit the optician,they will be able to see anything that may be lurking behind the eye,he or she would also be less likely to worry about a visit to the optician.

[jno]

it may be that the flash is on one side of your camera so shone in one eye more than the other?

[TTG]

Thanks for the answers. The flash is in the middle of the camera and I was pointing it directly at my friend...no angle. I think the best thing to do is to take another pic and see what comes out.

[nutgoneflake]

Don't count on it being the same though! And if it didn't happen again, would you just leave it??

Get your friend to an Optician at the very least.