Post-Hepatic Jaundice

Post-hepatic (or obstructive) jaundice, also called cholestasis, is caused by interruption to the drainage of bile in the biliary system. The most common causes are gallstones in the common bile duct, ductal careinoma, pancreatitis and pancreatic pseudo cysts. A rate causes of obstructive jaundice is Mirizzi's syndrome.

The complicators or the damages to the lever cause jaundice. A person suffering from it cannot sleep well, feels bored, dizzy and sometimes become unconscious in the extreme cases. This disease is mostly found in alcoholic people. Alcoholism enlarges the liver and makes it delicate. The soft liver may give in any time. People usually suffer from jaundice when they have complications of liver.

If the jaundice has been caused by the alcoholism, it is cured with the patient abstaining from alcohol. The extreme stage of this disease may kill the patient. The severity of the effects of alcoholism may differ from person to person. Therefore, this disease has been regarded as one of the most fatal diseases.

Causes and symptoms of Jaundice

The increase in the deposition of the substance called Bilirubin in blood causes jaundice. Its patients have yellow eyes and skins. The urine also seems very yellow.

Hepatitis A virus causes jaundice. These viruses are transferred from excreta of the patient suffering from jaundice. Patients loses appetite, feels nausea and has fever. After four to seven days, the skin and the eyes start turning pale. During this period, the liver becomes large and soft. This stage remains for two to six weeks and it takes many months to completely recover.

Sometimes, liver is damaged very badly and the patient dies within ten days. Such damage is seen in people who came in regular contact with its victims without any immunity. Therefore, this disease should be prevented from being transferred from one person to another. The next  microbe that causes jaundice is Hepatitis B virus. They are transferred especially through blood transfusion. Another Jaundice causing microbe is yellow fever virus. It is the most dangerous virus. This virus has already been eradicated from the world.

Controlling Measures

The patients of jaundice should take enough rest. Special care should be taken in nutrition. The well ripen food should be given to the patient as they tend to vomit the unappetizing food. The person having jaundice should not take oily food because they cannot digest fats. Since the intestines of the patient lacks bile, they cannot digest fats and digest the food. Patient should be given plenty of carbohydrates to maintain energy. Milk and other nutritious foods should be given to the patient after they have felt a bit better.

Janudice

Jaundice comes from the French word jaune, which means yellow is a yellowing of the skin, sclera and mucous membranes caused by increased levels of bilirubin in the human body.

Causes of Jaundice

When red blood die, the heme in their hemoglobin is converted to bilirubin in the spleen and in the kupffer cells in the liver. The bilirubin is processed by the liver, enters bile and is eventually excreted through feces.

Consequently, there are three different classes of causes for jaundice. Pre-hepatic or hemolytic causes, where too many red blood cell are broken down, hepatic causes where the processing of bilirubin in the liver does not function correctly, and post-hepatic or extra hepatic causes, where the removal of bile is disturbed.

Pre-hapatic

Pre-hepatic (or hemolytic) jaundice is caused by anything that causes an increased rate of hemolysis (breakdown of red blood cells). In tropical countries, malaria can cause jaundice in this manner. Certain genetic diseases, such as sickle cell anemia and glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency can lead to increase red cell lysis and therefore hemolytic jaundice. Defects in bilirubin metabolism also present as jaundice. Jaundice usually comes with high fevers.

Hepatic Jaundice

Hepatic causes include acute hepatitis, hepatotoxicity and alcoholic liver disease whereby cell necrosis reduces the liver's ability to metabolize and excrete bilirubin leading to a build up in the blood. Less common causes include primary biliary cirrhosis, Gilbert's syndrome and metastatic carcinoma. Jaundice commonly seen in the newborn baby is another example of hepatic jaundice.