Jaundice is colored yellowish skin, body fluids or mucous membranes, caused by the accumulation of bilirubin (more than 2.3 mg / dL). Jaundice is a symptom that indicates an alteration in the metabolism and / or elimination of bilirubin, often due to a hemolytic (blood), liver, or bile duct disorder. Jaundice is not a disease in and of itself, but is a manifestation of various disorders including liver damage and blood problems that lead to the destruction of red blood cells.
One cause of jaundice is increased bilirubin production, which can occur in any condition that is capable of breaking down red blood cells. This happens in the case of disorders that affect the shape of these cells, such as thalassemia and sickle cell disease, the latter also known as sickle cell disease because the red blood cells take the shape of a sickle that causes them to stick in them. capillaries that lead them to be destroyed.
In some cases, jaundice may be accompanied by coluria (urine that is very dark in color due to the presence of bilirubin in the urine) and acholia (very light stools due to the absence of pigments derived from bilirubin).
Some parasites that infect red blood cells are capable of breaking these cells once they have completed their multiplication, passing into the blood where they will continue this process, this is characteristic of diseases such as malaria.
Jaundice is also possible when there is an obstruction in the elimination of bile, which occurs in liver diseases. The most common case occurs in hepatitis where the inflammatory process of the liver can obstruct the drainage of bile, it is also common in people who have gallstones when they block their drainage duct or common bile duct, as well as in the case of liver cirrhosis and in the presence of tumors of the liver or the head of the pancreas. It is also possible that parasites, especially roundworms, migrate from the intestine to the bile ducts that block these ducts.
The diagnosis of jaundice is based on the physical examination of the coloration of the skin and the membrane, especially that of the eyes. Also, bilirubin blood tests are done.
During the first hours of life it is possible for newborns to develop jaundice, this occurs as a consequence of the elevation of bilirubin levels due to factors such as the blood incompatibility of the ABO and Rh types that occur when the mother and father are different blood groups, especially when the father is Rh positive and the mother is Rh negative.
This condition warrants hospitalization and treatment of the child, since high levels of bilirubin are capable of producing permanent damage to the central nervous system.
