What causes jaundice?
the RBCs die at a faster rate than usual, bilirubin can accumulate in the blood and cause jaundice. Once hemoglobin is in the red cells of the blood, it circulates for the life span of those cells. The hemoglobin that is released when the cells die is turned into bilirubin. If for any reason the RBCs die at a faster rate than usual, bilirubin can accumulate in the blood and cause jaundice. Pre-hepatic (or hemolytic) jaundice is caused by anything which causes an increased rate of haemolysis (breakdown of red blood cells). In tropical countries, malaria can cause jaundice in this manner. Certain genetic diseases, such as glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency can lead to increase red cell lysis and therefore hemolyic jaundice. Defects in bilirubin metabolism also present as jaundice. Liver diseases of all kinds threaten the organ’s ability to keep up with bilirubin processing. Starvation, circulating infections, certain medications, hepatitis, and cirrhosis can all cause hepatic j
High levels of a pigment in the blood called bilirubin cause the skin to look yellow. When old red blood cells break down, one of the byproducts they create is bilirubin. Everyone’s blood contains bilirubin, which is normally removed from the blood by the liver and then eliminated in the stool. Before your baby was born, your liver removed his bilirubin for him. Now it’s just taking some time for his liver to take over the task — so the pigment builds up in his blood and his skin takes on the yellowish cast of jaundice. This type of jaundice, called physiologic jaundice, usually appears on a baby’s second or third day of life and disappears on its own within two weeks. (For premature babies, it peaks at five to seven days and may take up to two months to go away.) The yellow color tends to appear first in a baby’s face, then move downward to his neck and chest and on down until, in extreme cases, it reaches his toes.
