We include products we think are useful for our readers. If you buy through links on this page, we may earn a small commission. Jaundice is a term used to describe a yellowish tinge to the skin and the whites of the eye.
Body fluids may also be yellow. The color of the skin and whites of the eyes will vary depending on levels of bilirubin. Bilirubin is a waste material found in the blood.
Moderate levels lead to a yellow color, while very high levels will appear brown. About 60 percent of all infants born in the United States have jaundice. However, jaundice can happen to people of all ages and is normally the result of an underlying condition. Jaundice normally indicates a problem with the liver or bile duct.
In this article, Medical News Today will discuss what jaundice is, why it happens, and how it is diagnosed and treated.
Jaundice is a yellowing of the skin and the whites of eyes that happens when the body does not process bilirubin properly. This may be due to a problem in the liver. Bilirubin is a yellow-colored waste material that remains in the bloodstream after iron is removed from the blood. The liver filters waste out from the blood.
When bilirubin reaches the liver, other chemicals attach to it. A substance called conjugated bilirubin results. The liver produces bile, a digestive juice. Conjugated bilirubin enters the bile, then it leaves the body. It is this type of bilirubin that gives feces its brown color. If there is too much bilirubin, it can leak into the surrounding tissues.
This is known as hyperbilirubinemia, and it causes the yellow color in the skin and eyes. Jaundice may appear suddenly or develop slowly over time. Symptoms of jaundice commonly include:. Note: If your skin is yellow and the whites of your eyes are not yellow, you may not have jaundice.
Your skin can turn a yellow-to-orange color if you eat a lot of beta carotene, the orange pigment in carrots. A bilirubin blood test will be done. Other tests may include:. Approach to the patient with jaundice or abnormal liver tests. Goldman-Cecil Medicine.
Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier Saunders; chap Evaluation of jaundice in adults. Am Fam Physician. PMID: www. Lidofsky SD. In these cases, jaundice often appears much earlier or much later than does the more common form of infant jaundice. Diseases or conditions that can cause jaundice include:. Major risk factors for jaundice, particularly severe jaundice that can cause complications, include:.
High levels of bilirubin that cause severe jaundice can result in serious complications if not treated. Bilirubin is toxic to cells of the brain. If a baby has severe jaundice, there's a risk of bilirubin passing into the brain, a condition called acute bilirubin encephalopathy. Prompt treatment may prevent significant lasting damage. Kernicterus is the syndrome that occurs if acute bilirubin encephalopathy causes permanent damage to the brain.
Kernicterus may result in:. The best preventive of infant jaundice is adequate feeding. Breast-fed infants should have eight to 12 feedings a day for the first several days of life.
Formula-fed infants usually should have 1 to 2 ounces about 30 to 60 milliliters of formula every two to three hours for the first week. Mayo Clinic does not endorse companies or products. Advertising revenue supports our not-for-profit mission. This content does not have an English version. This content does not have an Arabic version.
Overview Infant jaundice is yellow discoloration of a newborn baby's skin and eyes. You may at times develop mild jaundice, with slight yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes.
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