Jaundice is a medical condition which is known for yellowing of skin and eyes. In this condition a person might feel uncomfortable and weak. Jaundice is caused because of overproduction of bilirubin in the system. Because of this excess bilirubin, the red blood cells in the liver get breakdown and result in excess of dead cells in the body. It is a serious disease which affects thousands of people across the country and can affect gallbladder as well as pancreas. Today we are going to discuss about conditions that result to jaundice.
What kind of conditions can affect Jaundice?
According to expert Dr. Sumeet Nigam, General Physician in Sahara Hospital, Lucknow says that around 20 such conditions which might be cause of having jaundice. All these conditions somewhere affect liver function in the body and produce bilirubin because of which the skin and eyes turns yellow. It can be because of infections, breast milk in infants, inflammation and many others. However among all these different conditions, 6 conditions are more prevalent and are more likely to cause jaundice. Let us know about these conditions one by one.
6 Conditions Affecting Jaundice
1. Hepatitis
One of the most probable cause of having jaundice is associated with inflammation of liver causing hepatitis. Hepatitis that is caused because of infection, autoimmune disease and extreme blood loss, medication and drugs etc is a factor which could be leading towards hepatitis disease. This condition can be acute or chronic, depending on the cause of it. Hepatitis has these symptoms which increase the chances of having jaundice. They are-
- Vomiting
- Loss of appetite
- Fatigue
- Nausea
- Abdominal pain in upper abdomen
- Yellowish skin and eyes
- Fluid build-up in abdomen
2. Jaundice in Newborns
Jaundice is very common and prevalent in newborn babies. It can be due to presence of high levels of bilirubin in the blood after birth. Immune system of the baby is not strong enough to handle high levels of bilirubin in infants and thus results to yellow skin. However this condition does not last long in majority of new born babies and it gets away as the liver of the baby develops.
A risk factor in this condition is that if the bilirubin levels increase more than it can be handled, then it can cause deafness, brain damage and cerebral palsy. All these conditions need to be monitored carefully in order to prevent complications. Yellowness in eyes may be noticed in first few days after birth if the child is suffering from jaundice.
3. Thalassemia
This is a blood disorder which can be very harmful to the body. In condition of thalassemia, a person gets blood disorder which makes abnormal levels of haemoglobin in the body. Because of this, it kills excess of red blood cells that are present leading to anemia. Thalassemia is an inherited blood disorder and needs to be diagnosed carefully to prevent abnormalities in parameters.
Symptoms of thalassemia vary according to their level of severity; it causes certain bone deformities and delayed development of the body. This condition can cause jaundice as it lower the amount of red blood cells in the body which causes jaundice condition.
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4. Hepatitis B
This is another type of hepatitis in which liver gets inflamed and hepatitis B virus causes it. This condition causes infection in the blood and many other problems associated with different body functions. It causes jaundice because of infected blood in the body causing whiteness or yellowish skin.
Hepatitis B can be spread due to sharing needs, sexual transmission due to unprotected sex and using a razor or personal care products with infected blood. It could lead to these symptoms in the body-
- Abdominal discomfort
- Fever
- Weakness
- Loss of appetite
- Yellowing or whitening of eyes and skin
- Weakness in muscles and joints
5. Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency
This is a type of glucose deficiency which leads to inadequate amount of glucose in the blood. Because of this condition red blood cells breakdown and increases the amount of dead cells in the body that causes jaundice. G6PD deficiency leads to many other complications such as anaemia and heart rate problems. It needs to be treated soon to avoid any complications; jaundice in this condition may also last long till the deficiency is gone.
Its symptoms are similar to Jaundice-
- Fatigue
- Yellowish or dark orange urine
- Pale skin
- Dizziness
- Shortness of breath
- Rapid heart rate
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6. Gallstones
These gallstones are formed because of high concentration of bile juice inside the body. It can cause bilirubin to increase in concentration which results in problems including jaundice. A person may feel abdominal pain because of fluid stores in the form of gallstones.
Gallstones do not cause any major symptoms until they obstruct opening or bile ducts. It happens because of eating too much fat in the diet. Gallstones do not create too many complications but can have cause discomfort in normal routine while having symptoms such as-
- Dark urine
- White stools
- Diarrhoea
- Indigestion
- Burping
- Nausea
- Vomiting
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