Jaundice - yellow skin Health Article

Common Causes

Causes in children include:

• Autoimmune hepatitis
• Biliary atresia
• Breastfeeding jaundice
• Breast milk jaundice
• Disorders present since birth that cause problems processing bilirubin (Gilbert syndrome, Dubin-Johnson syndrome, Rotor syndrome, or Crigler-Najjar syndrome)
• Hemolytic anemia
• Malaria
• Newborn jaundice (physiologic jaundice)
• Viral hepatitis (hepatitis A, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, hepatitis D, and hepatitis E)

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.

Causes in adults include:

• Alcoholic liver disease (alcoholic cirrhosis)
• Autoimmune hepatitis
• Biliary stricture
• Blocked bile ducts (by infection, tumor or gallstones)
• Cancer of the pancreas
• Chronic active hepatitis
• Disorders present since birth that cause problems processing bilirubin (Gilbert syndrome, Dubin-Johnson syndrome, Rotor syndrome, or Crigler-Najjar syndrome)
• Drug-induced cholestasis
• Drug-induced hepatitis
• Hemolytic anemia
• Ischemic hepatocellular jaundice (jaundice caused by not enough oxygen or blood to the liver)
• Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (bile pools in the gallbladder because of the pressure in the abdomen with pregnancy)
• Malaria
• Primary biliary cirrhosis
• Viral hepatitis (hepatitis A, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, hepatitis D, and hepatitis E)

Home Care

The cause of jaundice must be determined before treatment can be given. Follow prescribed therapy to treat the underlying cause.