Symptoms and Complications
When you are jaundiced, your skin and the whites of your eyes are yellow.
Sometimes, people who eat a lot of carrots or beta-carotene tablets take
on a yellowish color. This is called carotenemia, and can be easily
distinguished from jaundice because the whites of the eyes don't turn yellow.
If a fever or flu-like illness comes before jaundice, it's usually a sign
of a viral hepatitis infection. Brown urine, common in hepatitis, is generally
a sign of poor liver function or increased red blood cell destruction. The body
is trying to get rid of excess bilirubin in the urine. Pale, white, or clay-colored
stool, on the other hand, is an indicator of obstruction in the gallbladder
or bile ducts. Many people with obstruction due to gallstones experience abdominal
pain, while those with obstruction due to tumors usually have painless jaundice.
Jaundice itself is unlikely to hurt you unless the bilirubin reaches very
high concentrations. It is a sign, however, of an underlying problem. There
are too many possible causes of jaundice to attempt diagnosis at home. You should
see a doctor if you think you have jaundice.