Jaundice Health Dictionary

Increased level of bile pigment in blood and tissue due to obstruction to bile ducts, e.g. in liver (hepatitis) or in the main duct (stone). Also due to excess production of pigment, e.g. in haemolytic anaemia. Underlying cause should be treated; gall stones, pressure from the pancreas, etc.

Symptoms: yellow tinge of the skin and whites of eyes, urine is dark greenish brown, tongue furred, pulse slow, appetite poor, indigestion, nausea, vomiting, very offensive stools which are pale because of lack of bile, bitter taste in mouth, itching of skin. Bitter herbs keep the bile fluid and flowing.

For itching: Aloe Vera. See ITCHING.

The following recommendations regarding diet, supplementation, etc, refer to the general condition.

For herbal treatment refer to specific type of jaundice.

Diet. Commence with 3-day fruit juice fast. Raw carrot juice. Followed by low-fat diet. High protein, high carbohydrate. Dandelion coffee.

Supplementation. Vitamins: B-complex, B6, B12, C (1 gram every 3 hours for acute conditions), D, E (1000iu daily). Dolomite.

George Stevens. Some cases may require a relaxing nervine (Vervain, Lobelia) as spasm of the gall duct may be responsible.

External. If pain on right side is severe, apply hot fomentation of Hops (1 handful to half a pint boiling water) which tends to relax the biliary duct, expediting expulsion of obstruction or stone.

John Wesley. Found relief from a tea of equal parts, Nettles and Burdock leaves. 

Yellowing of the skin and the whites of the eyes, caused by an accumulation of bilirubin in the blood. Jaundice is the chief sign of many disorders of the liver and biliary system. Many babies develop jaundice soon after birth (see jaundice, neonatal).

Bilirubin is formed from haemoglobin when old red cells are broken down, mainly by the spleen. It is absorbed by the liver, where it is made soluble in water and excreted in bile.

There are 3 main types of jaundice: haemolytic, hepatocellular, and obstructive. In haemolytic jaundice, too much bilirubin is produced for the liver to process. This is caused by excessive haemolysis of red cells, which can have many causes (see anaemia, haemolytic).

In hepatocellular jaundice, bilirubin accumulates because its transfer from liver cells into the bile is prevented, usually due to acute hepatitis (see hepatitis, acute) or liver failure.In obstructive jaundice, also known as cholestatic jaundice, bile cannot leave the liver because of bile duct obstruction.

Obstructive jaundice can also occur if the bile ducts are not present (as in biliary atresia) or if they have been destroyed by disease.

Cholestasis then occurs and bilirubin is forced back into the blood.

For all types of jaundice, treatment is for the underlying cause.

The presence of bilirubin deposits in the skin, whites of the eyes and mucosa. Bilirubin, the unrecyclable waste products of hemoglobin, are normally excreted in the bile, get carried down the intestinal tract and color our feces its usual comfortable brown. If the bile ducts are blocked, blood breaks down too quickly, or the liver itself is diseased (it performs much of the recycling), then the yellow/orange/brown bilirubin has nowhere to go but out the urine (making it the standard hepatitis color) and into the skin. Jaundice ain’t bad...its the causes that one should worry about.

Yellowing of the skin and other tissues caused by the presence of bile pigments

Jaundice is a yellow discoloration of the skin due to the deposition of BILE pigment in its deeper layers. It is the main sign of several disorders of the liver and biliary system. Many babies develop jaundice soon after birth because of the accumulation of BILIRUBIN (yellow bile pigment) in the blood. In most, this is due to liver immaturity and soon disappears, but a serious disorder, HAEMOLYTIC DISEASE OF THE NEWBORN, is a potentially dangerous type of neonatal jaundice that requires treatment.

Types In adults, three types of jaundice occur. They are all the result of disturbance in the mechanism by which HAEMOGLOBIN from the breakdown of ageing red blood cells (erythrocytes) is not properly processed in the liver. Normally the breakdown product of this haemoglobin – bilirubin – is made water-soluble in the liver and excreted via the bile ducts into the small intestine, where it colours the stools dark brown. HAEMOLYTIC JAUNDICE In this type, the amount of bilirubin produced is too much for the liver to deal with, the excess usually being the result of an abnormal level of haemoglobin from the breakdown of blood cells. This haemolytic anaemia, as it is known, has several causes (see ANAEMIA). HEPATOCELLULAR JAUNDICE In this disorder, bilirubin builds up in the blood because liver cells have been damaged or have died – usually as a result of a viral infection (there are four types) causing HEPATITIS, or of liver failure. OBSTRUCTIVE JAUNDICE Also called cholestatic jaundice, this type is characterised by the inability of bile to be discharged from the liver because the bile ducts are blocked as a result of gall-stones (see under GALL-BLADDER, DISEASES OF) or a growth. Sometimes the ducts are absent (atresia) or have been destroyed in the liver as a result of CIRRHOSIS.

Symptoms Yellowness, appearing ?rst in the whites of the eyes and later over the whole skin, is the symptom that attracts notice. Indigestion, nausea, poor appetite and general malaise are other symptoms. The skin may itch, and the faeces are pale because of the absence of bile.

Treatment The essential step is to treat the underlying cause if possible: for instance, gallstones, if these be the cause of the jaundice. Comprehensive laboratory investigations are usually required, and supportive measures are needed. (See also LIVER, DISEASES OF.).

Deposition of bilirubin in the skin giving it and the scelerae of the eyes a yellow colour. Indicates a hepatitis.

n. a yellow discoloration of the skin or whites of the eyes, indicating excess bilirubin (a bile pigment) in the blood. Jaundice is classified into three types. Obstructive jaundice occurs when bile made in the liver fails to reach the intestine due to obstruction of the *bile ducts (e.g. by gallstones or a tumour) or to *cholestasis. The urine becomes dark in colour and the stools become pale. Hepatocellular jaundice is due to disease of the liver cells, such as *hepatitis, when the liver is unable to utilize the bilirubin, which accumulates in the blood. The urine may be dark but the faeces retain their colour. Haemolytic jaundice occurs when there is excessive destruction of red cells in the blood (see haemolysis). Urine and faeces retain their normal colour. Medical name: icterus.