Top 10 Causes of Jaundice!
The Main Symptoms of Jaundice that everyone should be aware of. In addition, jaundice is a yellowish pigmentation of the skin and whites of the eyes (sclera), produced by abnormally high amounts of bile pigments (bilirubin) in the blood.
Old or altered red blood cells are eliminated from the bloodstream, mainly through the spleen. During this process, hemoglobin (a substance contained in red blood cells that carries oxygen) is transformed into bilirubin. So, check out Top 10 Causes of Jaundice:
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What it is : Conditions associated with jaundice , yellow skin and eyes , yellow skin , yellow eyes Jaundice is defined as the presence of a yellowish color to the skin , mucous membranes, or eyes . Jaundice is not a disease per se, but the visible manifestation of some underlying disease.
Causes: The typical yellowish color is caused by the deposition of bile pigment (bilirubin) in the tissues and its identification has an important clinical significance as it reflects an abnormality in the production, metabolism or elimination of this pigment.
Bilirubin is mainly formed from the death of red blood cells present in the blood.
This destruction process takes place in the cells of the spleen, liver and bone marrow. In usual conditions, practically all the bilirubin produced is taken to the liver by the blood stream and its elimination takes place to the intestine through the bile ducts, after its storage in the gallbladder.
However, when an abnormality occurs at any stage of this process, this substance can accumulate in the body, causing jaundice .
- Malaria
- leptospirosis
- sickle cell anemia
- thalassemia
- hereditary spherocytosis
- Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria
- Gilbert’s Syndrome
- Crigler-Najjar Syndrome
- viral hepatitis
- alcoholic hepatitis
- Hepatical cirrhosis
- Acute fatty liver of pregnancy
- biliary cirrhosis
- Toxic-drug hepatitis
- sepsis
- Obstruction of the bile ducts due to the presence of stones
- Cancer
Symptoms: Symptoms are discoloration of the skin , mucous membranes, body fluids and organs. An early sign of jaundice is a yellowish discoloration of the whites of the eye. In general, it is from the observation of this clinical sign that the doctor will start the search for the diagnosis of the disease and its causes.
Types: Pre -hepatic jaundice is the one that occurs ‘before’ the liver, that is, before the blood has passed through the organ. Pre -hepatic jaundice mainly raises suspicion of blood disorders in which too many red blood cells are disintegrated. Through this deterioration comes excess bilirubin (hyperbilirubinemia), which is a breakdown product of hemoglobin – the red blood pigment.
Treatment: With regard to physiological jaundice , as in the vast majority of cases, bilirubin will be spontaneously absorbed in a few days, without the need for treatment.
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In case of more severe jaundice , it is common to opt for phototherapy. The baby is exposed naked and with its eyes protected to a bluish light inside a special incubator. The number and duration of sessions varies depending on the intensity of the yellowing. Already the occurrences of jaundice in adults require treatment of the cause of the problem so that jaundice disappears.