Jaundice

Jaundice is a condition which is sometimes caused by mononucleosis. It occurs when excess bilirubin develops in your blood and makes your skin, eyes and mucus membranes in your mouth turn yellow.

Jaundice is most common in newborn babies usually appearing during the first 3 to 5 days of your baby's life. But it disappears soon as the body adjusts to the bilirubin in the blood.

Most of the time, jaundice is not harmful for your baby. But if there is too much bilirubin, your baby can develop seizures as well as deafness, and cerebral palsy. In adults, however, jaundice can cause liver or gallbladder disease and can eventually lead to liver failure if not treated early.

The causes of jaundice

Jaundice can be caused by a numbers of things, for example:

• Hepatitis
• Gallstones, birth defects, tumors which obstruct the ducts in the biliary system
• Liver dysfunction
• Cirrhosis
• Pancreatic Cancer
• Malaria
• Typhoid
• Tuberculosis
• Gilbert's syndrome and other genetic diseases
• Sickle cell anemia
• Pregnancy
• Drugs

The symptoms of jaundice

Other than the yellow discoloration of your skin, eyes and mucus membranes, there are many other symptoms that can make you uncomfortable and uneasy when you are suffering from Jaundice.

These include:

• Extreme weakness
• Headaches
• Fever
• Loss of appetite
• Constipation
• Nausea
• Mild pain in the liver

The diagnosis of jaundice

Checking the appearance of your skin and eyes is one of the ways that your doctor will indicate jaundice. Your doctor will also feel your liver and treat the problem.

This can be from removing the gallstones or tumors that are blocking the bile duct to getting a liver transplant which maybe severely damaged. By treating the causes of your condition, you should be free from jaundice in no time.