Jaundice in Newborns

You commonly hear of newborns having jaundice, but what is it exactly? The word jaundice comes from the French word for 'yellow' which is 'jaune.' It describes the yellowish appearance of the skin and whiles of the eyes of a newly born baby. The cause of jaundice is a build up of biliruben in the babies bloodstream. Everyone has biliruben in their blood, which is created when red blood cells break down. The hemoglobin in the red blood cells changes into biliruben which is then removed by the liver and excreted into the stools. Babies are born with an excess of red blood cells and often times their livers aren't developed enough to filter out the biliruben.

Babies are born with a generous supply of red blood cells, which help transport oxygen. Over time, these red blood cells break down, forming bilirubin in the process. Bilirubin is normally transported to the liver, where it's processed before being eliminated from the body. But newborns initially have more bilirubin than their livers can handle, and the excess causes their skin and, sometimes, the whites of their eyes to turn yellow. This type of jaundice, called physiologic jaundice, typically appears on the second or third day of life.

Jaundice is caused by an increasing amount of bilirubin in the blood. When red blood cells break down, the heme in their hemoglobin is converted to bilirubin. The bilirubin is processed by the liver where it is eliminated in bile. The hemoglobin is in the red cells of the blood that carries oxygen in your cells. As red blood cells die your body builds new cells to replace them and the old ones are processed by the liver. If any reason the red blood cells die rate faster than as usual, bilirubins can collect in the blood and cause jaundice. Other causes of jaundice are anemia and other diseases which affect the liver such as malaria, yellow fever, typhoid and tuberculosis.

When a person indulges on diet which increases pitta( one among the three somatic humors), like excessive alcohol intake, heavy, oily, and spicy food, pitta becomes aggravated and results in disease of blood, muscle tissue, biliary system and liver. These then manifest as kaamala or jaundice. It is also mentioned in the texts that if a person is anaemic he is more prone to kaamala. Yellowish discolouration of the eyes, nails, skin, and oral cavity, yellowish/reddish discolouration of faeces and urine, generalized weakness, burning sensation,loss of appetite and taste, vague body pains and weakness in all sensory organs and emaciation.

If you constantly have a bad appetite then you should consider having some medical test because this is one of the symptoms of liver disease. This will lead to decreasing of body weight and a not balanced metabolism that will lead to an unusual, unhealthy quantity of carbohydrates and fat in the blood. Another result of this symptom is anemia. This is the most severe consequence of a bad appetite. If a person developed anemia it is very possible that he will develop a disease in the liver cells (hepatocytes). Vomiting and nausea will appear, and in the vomit there are big chances that blood will be found. Ulcers have an increased risk rate if anemia is left untreated.


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