Yellow Skin (Jaundice) - Symptoms, Causes and Treatment

Yellow skin is somehow dangerous for health and if not treated at the proper time can lead to any other severe issues. Yellow skin is mainly caused due to jaundice and jaundice is the term that is used to describe the yellowish tinge to the skin and the whites of the eye. The fluids of the body become yellow. The color of skin also gets yellowish and the color of the whites of the eyes will vary according to the level of bilirubin. The risk factors of yellow skin are multiple and it can be due to several problems at a time.

Bilirubin is just a waste material that is found in the blood at more than a moderate level can lead to the yellow color of skin. If the level of bilirubin is very high then it might cause the color of skin to brown. There is no specific age for jaundice and anyone at any age can suffer from Jaundice. Jaundice is mainly the result of an underlying condition and determines the issues with the liver or the bile duct as well.

What are the causes of Yellow Skin?

Most commonly a result of jaundice is found at no specific age. Whenever the body does not process bilirubin properly, then this may lead to the issue in the liver also. The liver mainly helps to filter the waste products the bilirubin reaches the liver then several other chemical components attach to it. When there is a lot of bilirubin then it can leak into the surrounding tissue and causes yellow skin.

Newborn Jaundice: Causes, Symptoms, Treatment

One of the most common causes of newborn jaundice is physiological jaundice. This type of jaundice is mainly faced by newborns and almost every newborn faces some degree of newborn jaundice in their first few days. This newborn jaundice mainly occurs because they experience a fater rate of red blood cell breakdown process and this leads to an elevated level of bilirubin in the blood systems. Many newborns have delicate and immature liver so they don't have much ability in the blood flow to eliminate the level of bilirubin from the blood. Newborn jaundice mainly occurs in a few days after birth and lasts for weeks and it simply does not need any treatment.

Another reason might be due to less breastfeeding. When newborns don't get enough breastmilk then they have to face jaundice.

Gilbert Syndrome

Gilbert Syndrome is mainly caused by the changes in the UGT1A1 gene. This is caused when there are several amounts of bilirubin in the blood systems. The main demerit of this Gilbert syndrome is that it does not show any symptoms before.

Neonatal Jaundice and Genetic Disorders

Many cases of newborn jaundice are short-lived but others can be more serious conditions. Genetic disorders cause the breakdown of red blood cells which involve glucose 6 phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency. This jaundice can also happen in newborns because of the obstruction of the bile duct.

Jaundice can lead to many potential threats to the organ system. Get a proper treatment done at the right time.