Healthcare : What is Jaundice:
Causes, symptoms, treatment and precautions for
What is jaundice?
Jaundice is a disorder in which a person’s skin and the
whites of the eyes are discolored yellow due to an increased level of bile
pigments in the blood resulting from liver disease. Jaundice is sometimes called
icterus, from a Greek word for ‘‘the condition.’’
Explanation on how
Jaundice occurs
In order to comprehend jaundice, it is useful to know about
the role of the liver in producing bile.
The function of the
liver in connection with jaundice
The most important function of the liver is the metabolic
processing of ‘‘chemical’’ waste products like cholesterol, and excreting them
into the intestines as bile. The liver is the premier ‘‘chemical’’ factory in
the body; most incoming and outgoing chemicals pass through it.
It is the first
stop for all nutrients, toxins, and drugs absorbed by the digestive tract. The
liver also collects chemicals from the blood for processing.
Many of these outward bound chemicals are excreted into the
bile. One particular substance, bilirubin, is yellow. Bilirubin is a product of
the breakdown of hemoglobin, which is the protein inside red blood cells.