Jaundice causes
Causes of jaundice; Cholestasis
Jaundice is a yellow color in the skin, mucous membranes, or eyes. The yellow color comes from bilirubin, a byproduct of your body processing old red blood cells. Jaundice is often a sign of a disease.
This article talks about the possible causes of jaundice in children and adults. Newborn jaundice occurs in very young infants.
Jaundice is a condition produced when excess amounts of bilirubin circulating in the blood stream dissolve in the subcutaneous fat (the layer of fat just beneath the skin), causing a yellowish appearance of the skin and the whites of the eyes. With the exception of normal newborn jaundice in the first week of life, all other jaundice indicates overload or damage to the liver, or inability to move bilirubin from the liver through the biliary tract to the gut.
Information
Jaundice is often a sign of a problem with the liver, gallbladder, or pancreas. Jaundice can occur when too much bilirubin builds up in the body. This may happen when:
- There are too many red blood cells dying or breaking down (hemolysis) and going to the liver.
- The liver is overloaded or damaged.
- The bilirubin from the liver is not able to properly move into the digestive tract.
Conditions that can cause jaundice include:
- Infections of the liver by a virus (hepatitis A, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, hepatitis D, and hepatitis E) or a parasite
- Use of certain drugs (such as an overdose of acetaminophen) or reactions to other medicines or exposure to poisons (for example, poisonous mushrooms)
- Birth defects or disorders present since birth that makes it hard for the body to breakdown bilirubin (such as Gilbert syndrome, Dubin-Johnson syndrome, Rotor syndrome, or Crigler-Najjar syndrome)
- Chronic liver disease such as advanced non-alcoholic steatohepatitis
- Gallstones or gallbladder disorders causing blockage of the bile duct
- Blood disorders
- Cancer of the pancreas
- Bile buildup in the gallbladder because of pressure in the belly area during pregnancy (jaundice of pregnancy)
- Cirrhosis of the liver
References
Lidofsky SD. Jaundice. In: Feldman M, Friedman LS, Brandt LJ, eds. Sleisenger and Fordtran's Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease: Pathophysiology/Diagnosis/Management. 11th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2021:chap 21.
Pitt HA, Nakeeb A. Bile secretion and pathophysiology of biliary tract obstruction. In: Jarnagin WR, Allen PJ, Chapman WC, et al, eds. Blumgart's Surgery of the Liver, Biliary Tract and Pancreas. 7th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2023:chap 8.
Wyatt JI, Haugk B. Liver, biliary system and pancreas. In: Cross SS, ed. Underwood's Pathology. 7th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2019:chap 16.
Version Info
Last reviewed on: 8/7/2023
Reviewed by: Michael M. Phillips, MD, Emeritus Professor of Medicine, The George Washington University School of Medicine, Washington, DC. Also reviewed by David C. Dugdale, MD, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.
