“Jaundice” is the medical term that describes yellowing of the skin and eyes. Jaundice itself is not a disease, but it is a symptom of several possible underlying illnesses. Jaundice forms when there is too much bilirubin in your system. Bilirubin is a yellow pigment that is created by the breakdown of dead red blood cells in the liver. Normally, the liver gets rid of bilirubin along with old red blood cells.
Jaundice may indicate a serious problem with the function of your red blood cells, liver, gallbladder, or pancreas.
Hepatitis
- This inflammatory condition of the liver is caused by infection, autoimmune disease, extreme blood loss, medications, drugs, toxins, or alcohol.
- It may be acute or chronic, depending on the cause.
- Fatigue, lethargy, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, itching skin, right upper abdominal pain, yellow skin or eyes, and fluid buildup in the abdomen are possible symptoms.
Newborn jaundice
- Newborn jaundice is a common condition that occurs when a baby has a high level of bilirubin in the blood soon after birth.
- It often goes away on its own as a baby’s liver develops and as the baby begins to feed, which helps bilirubin pass through the body.
- Very high levels of bilirubin can put a baby at risk for deafness, cerebral palsy, or other forms of brain damage, so jaundice should be carefully monitored if it occurs after birth.
- The first sign of jaundice is yellowing of the skin or eyes that begins within two to four days after birth and may start on the face before spreading down across the body.
- Symptoms of dangerously elevated bilirubin levels include jaundice that spreads or becomes more intense over time, fever, poor feeding, listlessness, and high-pitched crying.
Breast milk jaundice
- This type of jaundice is associated with breastfeeding.
- It typically occurs one week after birth.
- Usually, it doesn't cause any problems and eventually goes away on its own.
- It causes yellow discoloration of the skin and the whites of the eyes, fatigue, poor weight gain, and high-pitched crying.
Thalassemia
- Thalassemia is an inherited blood disorder in which the body makes an abnormal form of hemoglobin.
- The disorder results in excessive destruction of red blood cells, which leads to anemia.
- There are three main types of thalassemia that vary in symptoms and severity.
- Symptoms include bone deformities (especially in the face), dark urine, delayed growth and development, excessive tiredness and fatigue, and yellow or pale skin.
Hepatitis B
- Infection by the hepatitis B virus causes this type of liver inflammation.
- It spreads through direct contact with infected blood; being pricked with a contaminated needle or sharing needles; transfer from mother to baby during birth; oral, vaginal, and anal sex without condom protection; and using a razor or any other personal item with remnants of infected fluid.
- Common symptoms include fatigue, dark urine, joint and muscle pain, loss of appetite, fever, abdominal discomfort, weakness and yellowing of the whites of the eyes (sclera) and skin (jaundice).
- Complications of chronic hepatitis B infection include liver scarring (cirrhosis), liver failure, liver cancer, and death.
- Hepatitis B infection can be prevented with routine immunization.
Alcoholic liver disease
- This diseased, inflammatory condition of the liver is caused by heavy alcohol consumption over an extended period of time.
- Symptoms vary depending on the amount of damage to the liver.
- Easy bleeding or bruising, fatigue, changes in your mental state (including confusion0, jaundice (or yellowing of the skin or eyes), pain or swelling in the abdomen, nausea and vomiting, and weight loss are all possible symptoms.
Old red blood cells travel to your liver, where they’re broken down. Bilirubin is the yellow pigment formed by the breakdown of these old cells. Jaundice occurs when your liver doesn’t metabolize bilirubin the way it’s supposed to.
Your liver might be damaged and unable to perform this process. Sometimes the bilirubin simply can’t make it to your digestive tract, where it normally would be removed through your stool. In other cases, there may be too much bilirubin trying to enter the liver at once or too many red blood cells dying at one time.
Jaundice in adults is indicative of:
- alcohol misuse
- liver cancer
- thalassemia
- cirrhosis (scarring of the liver, usually due to alcohol)
- gallstones (cholesterol stones made of hardened fat material or pigment stones made of bilirubin)
- hepatitis A
- hepatitis B
- hepatitis C
- hepatitis D
- hepatitis E
- pancreatic cancer
- G6PD deficiency
- biliary (bile duct) obstruction
- sickle cell anemia
- acute pancreatitis
- ABO incompatibility reaction
- drug-induced immune hemolytic anemia
- yellow fever
- Weil’s disease
- other blood disorders such as hemolytic anemia (the rupture or destruction of red blood cells that leads to a decreased number of red blood cells in your circulation, which results in fatigue and weakness)
- an adverse reaction to or overdose of a medication, such as an acetaminophen (Tylenol)
Your healthcare provider will first conduct blood tests to determine the cause of your jaundice. A blood test can not only determine the total amount of bilirubin in your body, but also help detect indicators of other diseases such as hepatitis.
Other diagnostic tests may be used, including:
- liver function tests, a series of blood tests that measure levels of certain proteins and enzymes the liver produces when it’s healthy and when it’s damaged
- complete blood count (CBC), to see if you have any evidence of hemolytic anemia
- imaging studies, which may include abdominal ultrasounds (using high-frequency sound waves to generate images of your internal organs) or CT scans
- liver biopsies, which involves removing small samples of liver tissue for testing and microscopic examination
The severity of jaundice in newborns is generally diagnosed with a blood test. A small blood sample is taken by pricking the infant’s toe. Your pediatrician will recommend treatment if the results indicate moderate to severe jaundice.
Again, jaundice itself isn’t a disease but a symptom of several possible underlying illnesses. The type of treatment your healthcare provider recommends for jaundice depends on its cause. Your healthcare provider will treat the cause of the jaundice, not the symptom itself. Once treatment begins, your yellow skin will likely return to its normal state.
According to the American Liver Foundation, most jaundice cases in infants resolve within one to two weeks.
Moderate jaundice is typically treated with phototherapy in the hospital or in the home to help remove excess bilirubin.
The light waves used in phototherapy are absorbed by your baby’s skin and blood. The light helps your baby’s body change the bilirubin into waste products to be eliminated. Frequent bowel movements with greenish stools are a common side effect of this therapy. This is just the bilirubin exiting the body. Phototherapy may involve the use of a lighted pad, which mimics natural sunlight and is placed on your baby’s skin.
Severe cases of jaundice are treated with blood transfusions to remove bilirubin.
Post a Comment