What is Yellow Jondus?

Question

My cousin was born on the 17th premature. He was due on December the 5th. The doctor says he has this. What is it?

Answer 1

Jaundice, is a yellowing of the skin, or whites of the eyes and mucous membranes (mouth) caused by increased levels of bilirubin in the human body

When red blood cells die, their hemoglobin is converted to bilirubin in the spleen and in the hepatocytes in the liver. The bilirubin is processed by the liver, enters bile and is eventually excreted through feces (thorugh pooping)



Baby jaundice is usually harmless: this condition is often seen in infants around the second day after birth, lasting till day 8 in normal births, the jaundice happens beacuse the baby needs to adjust to all these changes in their bodies and cannot handle all these new things. They get better with treatment and time and learn to get rid of this waste in their bodies themself.

Answer 2

This is very common in newborns (especially if they have an Asian background). It is basically a skin condition caused from too much bilirubin in their blood.

Bilirubin is a pigment produced as red blood cells break down. It is usually processed by the liver and excreted in the baby’s stool. When a baby has jaundice, either too much bilirubin is being produced or the liver does not get rid of it quickly enough. A newborn baby’s liver is not fully matured, so jaundice is common during a baby’s first few days of life.

My daughter had this at birth and she was a few weeks early. She is also half Asian and white and my husband told me that it is really common from his side of the family. There is no need to use any special form of treatment because it should correct itself naturally. But if it continues after a week, then the baby should be seen by a pediatrician as it could be a a more severe case that requires treatment.

Answer 3

When a baby is inside of it's mother it needs extra red blood cells because of the way the baby gets it's oxygen. Once the baby is breathing after birth it doesn't need so many red blood cells. The liver breaks down the extra red blood cells...which produces what is called billiruben. If the body can't get rid of it quickly enough that baby's skin & the whites of the eyes becomes yellow. Being under an ultraviolet light of put in direct sunlight the excess billiruben is broken down and fluhshed form the baby's body.

It is rare but if not taken care of there can be serious complications.

Rarely does this happen, but there can be an ABO blood compatibility between the child and the mother. If the billiruben isn't broken down fast enough the baby might need a blood transfusion. Like I said this is rare.

Answer 4

When Your Skin Turns Yellow.

Answer 5

Jaundice is not an illness, but a medical condition in which too much bilirubin - a compound produced by the breakdown of hemoglobin from red blood cells - is circulating in the blood. The excess bilirubin causes the skin, eyes and the mucus membranes in the mouth to turn a yellowish color.

Jaundice is common in newborn babies and will usually clear up without treatment. However, for adults the symptoms of jaundice may indicate damage to the liver. If the cause is not treated, it can lead to liver failure

Answer 6

I had Jaundice when I was born and had to stay in the hospital for an extra two weeks, it is also reffered to as yellow fever I think, because of the baby turning a bit yellow. I was bald for quite a few weeks because of jaundice. I hear it is very common in babies.

Answer 7

Jaundice is common in babies who are born pre-mature. Their livers are too immature to remove the billirubin from the blood stream causing yellowing of the skin and eyes. Pediatricians can order babies to stay in the hospital until the jaundice is cleared up or they can order a visiting nurse to take care of it in the babies home. It depends on how serious it is. Believe it or not, sunlight, otherwise known as photo therapy is the cure for jaundice. It will break down the billirubin in the bloodstream. It's like a little baby tanning bed! My daughter had it when she was born and we had her in a photo therapy be for 2 days and she was fine.

Answer 8

Yellow skin and eyes; Skin - yellow; Icterus; Eyes - yellow; Jaundice

Definition

Jaundice is a yellow color in the skin, the mucous membranes, or the eyes. The yellow pigment is from bilirubin, a byproduct of old red blood cells.

Considerations

If you’ve ever had a bruise, you may have noticed that the skin went through a series of color changes as it healed. When you saw yellow in the bruise, you were seeing bilirubin.

Normally, about 1% of our red blood cells retire every day, to be replaced by fresh red blood cells. The old ones are processed in the liver and disposed of. Much of the resulting bilirubin leaves the body in the stool.

If there are too many red blood cells retiring for the liver to handle, yellow pigment builds up in the body. When there is enough to be visible, jaundice results.

Jaundice can be caused by too many red blood cells retiring, by the liver being overloaded or damaged, or by the inability to move processed bilirubin from the liver through the biliary tract to the gut.

Most babies have some jaundice during the first week of life. The ordeal of birth can send many red blood cells to an early retirement (especially if a vacuum is used!), and babies’ livers are often unprepared for the load. Before Mom’s milk comes in and stooling begins in earnest, bilirubin accumulates more easily. Jaundice is even more common in premature babies.

Physiologic jaundice is the name for normal jaundice commonly seen in healthy babies.

Pathologic jaundice is the name given when jaundice presents a health risk, either because of its degree or its cause. Pathologic jaundice can occur in children or adults. It arises for many reasons, including blood incompatibilities, blood diseases, genetic syndromes, hepatitis, cirrhosis, bile duct blockage, other liver diseases, infections, or medications. The term also applies to physiologic jaundice exaggerated by dehydration, prematurity, difficult delivery, or other reason.

Another condition called Gilbert's syndrome is a benign, hereditary condition in which mild jaundice develops. It is caused by low levels of some bilirubin-processing enzymes in the liver. This condition, once recognized, requires no further treatment or evaluation. There are other more rare hereditary causes of elevated bilirubin levels.

A yellow-to-orange color may be imparted to the skin by consuming too much beta carotene, the orange pigment seen in carrots. In this condition, the whites of the eyes remain white, while people with true jaundice often have a yellowish tinge to the eyes.

This condition is called hypercarotenemia or just carotenemia.
Common Causes

Causes in children include:

newborn jaundice (physiologic jaundice)
breastfeeding jaundice
breast milk jaundice
viral hepatitis (hepatitis A, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, hepatitis D, and hepatitis E)
hemolytic anemia
disorders present since birth that cause problems processing bilirubin (Gilbert's syndrome, Dubin-Johnson syndrome, Rotor's syndrome, or Crigler-Najjar syndromes)
biliary atresia
autoimmune hepatitis
malaria
Breastfeeding jaundice may occur in the first week of life in more than 1 in 10 breastfed infants. The cause is thought to be inadequate milk intake, leading to dehydration or low caloric intake. It is a type of physiologic or exaggerated physiologic jaundice.

Breast milk jaundice is far less common and occurs in about 1 in 200 babies. Here the jaundice isn’t usually visible until the baby is a week old. It often reaches its peak during the second or third week. Breast milk jaundice can be caused by substances in mom's milk that decrease the infant’s liver’s ability to deal with bilirubin. Breast milk jaundice rarely causes any problems, whether it is treated or not. It is usually not a reason to stop nursing.

Answer 9

My son was born 3 weeks early and had jaundice too. He had to sleep on a bed of lights for a week. He ended up fine, I guess its very common.

Answer 10

super common, I believe 90% of babies have some degree of jaundace. It is when the liver over produces a chemocal & it comes out as color in the babies skin, some cases go away just with fluids & sunligh while others need to be placed under artifical light in the hospital in a incubater or at home on a "billy blanket"