Jaundice is a condition in which the skin, eyes, and mucous membranes become yellow due to a high level of bilirubin, a yellow-orange bile pigment, a substance created when red blood cells break down. Jaundice has many causes including hepatitis, gallbladder, and tumors. Jaundice in adults is not usually treated.
Jaundice: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatments
Jaundice: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatments
However, jaundice can occur in people of any age and is usually the result of an underlying condition. Jaundice usually refers to a liver or bile duct problem. In the United States, about 60 percent of newborns have jaundice.
- Jaundice is caused by the production of bilirubin, a waste product in the blood.
- Diagnosis of jaundice can involve a range of tests.
- An inflamed liver or obstructed bile duct can lead to jaundice, as well as other underlying conditions.
- Symptoms include a yellow tinge to the skin and whites of the eyes, dark urine, and itchiness.
- Jaundice is treated by managing the underlying cause.
Jaundice is the yellowing of the natural color of the eyes-white and body/skin that occurs when the body does not process bilirubin properly. This may be due to a problem in the liver. If there is too much bilirubin, it is being deposited in tissues, is known as hyperbilirubinemia, and it causes the yellowing of the skin and eyes.
Signs and symptoms of jaundice
- Pale-colored stools
- Swelling of the legs
- Skin itching
- Nausea and vomiting
- Headache
- Diarrhea
- Fever and chills
- Weakness
- Rectal bleeding
- Confusion
- Abdominal pain
- Dark-colored urine
- Weight loss
- Loss of appetite
- Swelling and distension of the abdomen due to the accumulation of fluid (ascites)
Other risk factors include:
- Eating raw shellfish
- Being an unvaccinated (for hepatitis)
- Healthcare professionals
- Tattooing
- Drug injections of other substances
- Birth between 1945 and 1965
- Participating in high-risk sexual activity
