Jaundice

On this page

Basics

• Summary
• Start Here
• Diagnosis and Tests
• Treatments and Therapies

Learn More

• Specifics
• Genetics

See, Play and Learn

• No links available

Research

• Clinical Trials
• Journal Articles

Resources

• Find an Expert

For You

• Children
• Patient Handouts

Summary

Jaundice causes your skin and the whites of your eyes to turn yellow. Too much bilirubin causes jaundice. Bilirubin is a yellow chemical in hemoglobin, the substance that carries oxygen in your red blood cells. As red blood cells break down, your body builds new cells to replace them. The old ones are processed by the liver. If the liver cannot handle the blood cells as they break down, bilirubin builds up in the body and your skin may look yellow.

Many healthy babies have some jaundice during the first week of life. It usually goes away. However, jaundice can happen at any age and may be a sign of a problem. Jaundice can happen for many reasons, such as:

• Blood diseases
• Genetic syndromes
• Liver diseases, such as hepatitis or cirrhosis
• Blockage of bile ducts
• Infections
• Medicines

Start Here

• Infant Jaundice (American Academy of Family Physicians) Also in Spanish
• Jaundice and Breastfeeding (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Recognizing Jaundice: Signs That Your Liver Isn't Delivering (National Institutes of Health) Also in Spanish

Diagnosis and Tests

• Bilirubin Blood Test (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Liver Function Tests (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish

Treatments and Therapies

• Exchange transfusion - series (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish

Specifics

• Gilbert Syndrome (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish

Genetics

• Crigler-Najjar syndrome: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Dubin-Johnson syndrome: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Hyperbilirubinemia (National Institutes of Health)
• ClinicalTrials.gov: Jaundice (National Institutes of Health)
• ClinicalTrials.gov: Kernicterus (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: Identification and quantification of the molecular species of bilirubin BDG, BMG...
• Article: Cabozantinib Induces Isolated Hyperbilirubinemia in Renal Cell Carcinoma Patients carrying the...
• Article: Etiology and Outcomes of Patients with Extreme Hyperbilirubinemia in Korea: A...
• Jaundice -- see more articles

Find an Expert

• American Liver Foundation
• National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

Children

• Jaundice in Newborns (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
• Newborn Jaundice (American Liver Foundation) - PDF

Patient Handouts

• Bilirubin - urine (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Bilirubin blood test (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Jaundice (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Jaundice causes (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Newborn jaundice (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Newborn jaundice - discharge (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish