What Causes Yellow Disease in Adults?

Medical Video: Jaundice Causes,Sign, Symptoms,Treatment and Risk Factor
What is jaundice?
What are the symptoms of jaundice?
Various causes of jaundice in adults
Causes of pre-hepatic jaundice
Causes of post-hepatic jaundice
Causes of intra-hepatic jaundice
How is jaundice diagnosed?
How do you get jaundice?

Medical Video: Jaundice Causes,Sign, Symptoms,Treatment and Risk Factor

Jaundice is often associated with newborns. However, have you ever encountered this condition in adults? Usually the skin and the white part of the eye will turn yellow. Is the condition dangerous, and what causes jaundice in adults?

What is jaundice?

Jaundice aka jaundice is a condition that makes the skin yellow. Not only that, the white color on your eyes will turn yellow. In severe cases, the white color can also turn brown or orge. Usually, jaundice is experienced by babies, but does not rule out the possibility of adults also experiencing it.

Jaundice is caused by a substance called excessive bilirubin in the blood and body tissues. Bilirubin is a yellow pigment that is formed from red blood cells that die in the liver. Normally, the liver removes bilirubin along with old red blood cells. Any condition that interferes with the transfer of bilirubin from the blood to the liver or out of the body can cause jaundice.

What are the symptoms of jaundice?

Jaundice can be indicated as a serious problem for the function of white blood cells, liver, pancreas or gall bladder. In addition to changes in the eyes and skin, the signs can be in the form of removing dark urine and pale stools. If you feel jaundice is caused by hepatitis, then you will experience other symptoms such as weakness and nausea.

Even though the skin turns yellow, not all conditions that refer to these changes can be identified as jaundice. Some people misdiagnose when they experience yellow skin. Based on one patient who has this condition, when someone has it, the possibility of yellow discoloration is found in the eyes and skin simultaneously. If you have yellow skin alone, maybe the condition is caused by an excess of beta carotene in your body's system.

Beta carotene is an antioxidant, usually found in vegetables that are yellow or orange, such as carrots, lebak, and sweet potatoes. Although eating too much beta carotene can change your skin tone temporarily, eating these vegetables excessively will not get you jaundice.

Various causes of jaundice in adults

The liver may be damaged, so it cannot process bilirubin. Sometimes bilirubin cannot enter the digestive system so it is removed through bowel movements. But in other cases, many bilirubin try to enter the liver at the same time. This condition can cause health problems in the body. There are three types of jaundice, depending on the part of the body affected by the movement of the bilirubin. The following are the kinds, with the causes of each:

Causes of pre-hepatic jaundice

This condition arises when an infection occurs which speeds up damage to red blood cells. This damage can cause an increase in the level of bilirubin in the blood, thus triggering jaundice. Causes of pre-hepatic jaundice:

Malaria - this infection spreads in the blood.
Sickle cell anemia - a blood-derived disorder in which red blood cells form abnormally. Thalassemia can also trigger the risk of jaundice.
Crigler-Najjar syndrome - a genetic syndrome in which the body loses enzymes that help move bilirubin from the blood.
Lowered spherocytosis - a genetic condition that causes red blood cells to form abnormally so that the cell cannot last long.

Causes of post-hepatic jaundice

This condition is usually triggered when the bile duct is damaged, inflamed, or blocked. The result is that the gall bladder is unable to move bile to the digestive system. The following can cause this condition:

Gallstones - blocking the bile duct system of pancreatic cancer
Pancreatitis or gallbladder cancer - inflammation of the pancreas, which can cause acute pancreatitis (lasting for several days) or chronic pancreatitis (lasting for several years)

Causes of intra-hepatic jaundice

This jaundice occurs when there are problems in the liver - for example damage from infection or alcohol. This interferes with the liver's ability to process bilirubin. The following are possible causes of this disease:

Hepatitis A, B, C virus
Liver disease (liver damage) caused by drinking too much alcohol
Leptospirosis - an infection that spreads through animals for example mice
Glandular fever - infection caused by the Epstein-Barr virus; this virus is found in the saliva of infected people and spreads through kissing, coughing, sharing unwashed food equipment
Drug abuse - excessive consumption of paracetamol or ecstasy
Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) - a condition that is rarely found and can cause further liver damage
Gilbert Syndrome - a common genetic syndrome in which the liver has a problem in breaking down bilirubin at normal levels
Heart cancer
Excessive use of substances known to cause liver damage, such as phenol (used in the manufacture of plastics), carbon tetrachloride (used to be used as in the cooling process)
Autoimmune hepatitis - a rare condition in which the body's immune system starts attacking the liver

How is jaundice diagnosed?

The doctor will give a bilirubin test to find out how much is in the blood. If you have jaundice, your level of bilirubin is likely to be high. Some tests that might be done are liver function tests, complete blood count (CBC) - done to find out if you have evidence of hemolytic anemia and liver biopsy.

How do you get jaundice?

Jaundice itself is actually not included in the disease, but is a symptom of other diseases that you experience. So to treat it, you must know what is the root of the condition. If you have hepatitis, your skin turns yellow and the way to overcome it is to treat hepatitis.