| Jaundice | |||||
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- What is jaundice?
- Symptoms of jaundice
- Causes of jaundice
- Treatment of jaundice
- Important jaundice facts
Jaundice is a symptom, caused by various diseases, which makes the skin, mucous membranes or the eyes a yellow colour.
The yellow colour is caused by a substance in red blood cells called bilirubin (which comes from old red blood cells that have completed their life cycle and are supposed to be recycled in the liver ands delivered to the bile to be reused as bile fluid, but which instead travels to various tissues to discolour them).
The reason that jaundice may have is due to the following:
- too much bilirubin is produced than the liver can adequately destroy or recycle
- a defect of the liver causing an inability to destroy or recycle bilirubin
- blockages of the bile ducts
- Yellowing of the white part of the eyes
- Yellowing of the mucous membranes
- Yellowed skin
If the level of bilirubin gets too high, the colour can change to a darker yellow, almost browish colour.
Jaundice is a cause of many diseases:
- Autoimmune hepatitis
- Biliary atresia
- Breast feeding jaundice
- Breast milk jaundice
- Certain disorders - Gilbert's syndrome , Dubin-Johnson syndrome , Rotor's syndrome, or Crigler-Najjar syndromes
- Haemolytic anemia
- Malaria
- New born (neonatal) jaundice
- Viral hepatitis
Diagnosis and testing
Jaundice is initially diagnosed through the following methods:
- History of symptoms
- Physical examination
Further tests can be recommended if these do not provide an exact cause:
- Blood test - to measure levels of bilirubin and other liver and vile duct substances in the blood
- CAT scan - a computerised tomography scan produces clear images of the liver and bile duct
- Liver biopsy - a small portion of liver tissue is removed to examine
- MRI - an MRI test produces clear images of the liver and bile duct
- Ultrasound - an ultrasound test produces clear images of the liver and bile duct
These tests or scans look at the bile duct and/or liver to determine what is causing the jaundice.
Conventional treatment
- Treatment of jaundice depends on the disease causing it.
Alternative / complementary treatment
- Treatment of jaundice depends on the disease causing it.
- Many health babies will get jaundice in their first week of life which usually goes away within a week of its onset
references
- SoRelle R. Research validates Chinese tea as jaundice remedy. http://www.bcm.edu/fromthelab/vol03/is1/04feb_n1.htm. Accessed 14 Aug 07
- Vassilios P, Filippou D, Manolis E, Mimidis K. Haemostasis impairment in patients with obstructive jaundice. J Gastrointestin Liver Dis. 2007 Jun;16(2):177-86. Review
To learn more, go to NSW Health - Jaundice Facts.
