JAUNDICE


Jaundice is an abnormal yellowing of a person's skin, mucous membrane, and whites of the eyes when bilirubin or its precursors accumulate in the body. This results from the liver's failure to filter bilirubin, a yellow material formed when hemoglobin, the iron-containing protein found in red blood cells, breaks down. This may be due to diverse medical disorders that involve hepatitis, gallstones, and tumors.

Jaundice is caused because at times the liver is not able to process all the bilirubin formed, or there is some obstruction in the passage of bilirubin from the liver. Jaundice occurs due to elevated bilirubin in the blood, which leaks out from within the blood vessels into tissues surrounding the blood vessels, causing yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes. There are three types of jaundice: prehepatic, hepatic, and posthepatic/obstructive jaundice that occurs during bilirubin production. 

The diagnosis is established by testing the bilirubin value of the blood and carrying out a palpation examination of the liver for its size and tenderness. Diagnosis of the cause of liver injury may also be performed with imaging techniques, such as ultrasound and CT.

Jaundice demands no particular treatment, but definitely the underlying cause is treated by the doctors, and complications if they arise are treated too. Preventive measures include vaccines, safe sex, the use of clean needles, good personal hygiene, keeping to acceptable limits on alcohol, maintaining a healthy weight, and managing cholesterol.















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