When it comes to jaundice many people are both unfamiliar and familiar, this article briefly introduces what is jaundice in adults and what to pay attention to?
What is jaundice?
The “jaundice” in jaundice is related to the “bile” in bile: our bile is yellow-green because of the presence of a pigment called bilirubin in the bile, and a small amount of bilirubin is also present in the blood. Bilirubin is closely related to bile metabolism, and when bile metabolism or excretion is abnormal, it can lead to an increase in bilirubin in the blood, resulting in “jaundice”.
Jaundice gives the most visual impression of yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes, and is directly caused by elevated bilirubin in the blood.
When the total bilirubin in the blood exceeds 17.1 μmol/L, the bilirubin is elevated. When the bilirubin is between 17.1 and 34.2 umol/L, the jaundice is not easily detected and is called recessive jaundice, but when it exceeds 34.2 umol/L, it is called dominant jaundice, i.e., the degree of yellowing of the skin or mucous membranes visible to the naked eye.
Jaundice is not only yellow
In addition to giving a sickly feeling, high bilirubin itself is also harmful, causing itchy skin and being toxic to the nervous system. In infants and young children, severe jaundice is more likely to cause neurological damage.
In adults, jaundice is a sign of disease. Often, the cause of jaundice or the disease itself is more serious than the “yellow”, such as cirrhosis or tumor compression of the bile ducts.
In addition, if the cause of jaundice is not removed in a timely manner, it can lead to more serious consequences, such as obstructive jaundice that is often followed by bacterial infections that can lead to sepsis and other serious consequences.
Causes of jaundice
There are many causes of jaundice in adults, and usually there is a hidden disease behind the “yellow”, which can be obstructive jaundice caused by poor bile drainage, hepatocellular jaundice (acute or chronic liver damage) caused by abnormal bilirubin metabolism due to extensive liver cell damage, or hemolytic jaundice caused by massive hemolysis. jaundice (mostly seen in hematologic disorders).
Obstructive jaundice.
Bile is produced by hepatocytes and sinks into the bile ducts step by step, eventually passing through the common bile duct into the small intestine to help digest and absorb lipid foods and vitamins.
If the bile ducts become obstructed but bile continues to be secreted, the pressure in the bile ducts will rise and the bile ducts will begin to dilate, and eventually the bile will flow back into the bloodstream causing jaundice, mainly due to conjugated bilirubin. In adults, bile duct obstruction is usually caused by stones or tumors, such as common bile duct stones, tumors compressing the bile ducts, or bile duct cancer.
Feces are usually golden yellow in color. Bile is needed to digest food and the pigments in the bile are left in the food residue to appear yellow. If the bile duct is obstructed, the bile cannot enter the small intestine, making the stool appear “white clay-like”.
Hepatocellular jaundice.
If damage to liver cells results in reduced uptake, binding and excretion of bilirubin by liver cells, and a certain basic amount of red blood cells die every day in humans, so impaired liver function will cause a gradual increase in bilirubin in the blood. Common causes: acute hepatitis, hepatitis B decompensation.
Hemolytic jaundice.
Any disease that can cause hemolysis may cause jaundice, this is hemolytic jaundice. The main diseases involved are congenital hemolysis, drug-induced hemolysis, and autoimmune hemolytic.
Treatment
Jaundice itself is a symptom of various diseases, and treatment needs to be directed at the cause of jaundice, so identifying the cause of jaundice is the key to treatment. In obstructive jaundice, the obstruction should be lifted, in hepatocellular jaundice, the liver function should be protected and restored, and in hemolytic jaundice, the hemolysis should be stopped, etc. It is not necessary to know the specific treatment method, just leave it to the doctor.