A friend of mine told me that one day a patient entered his office to consult and the following conversation took place:
Patient: Doctor, I have joint-dice.
Doctor: What do you mean by joint-dice?
Patient: All my joints are paining me.
Many people use the terms “jaundice” and “ASLO” without knowing their true meanings especially when consulting a doctor or discussing with friends. Some wrongly take the word jaundice to be “joint-dice”, that is, something relating to the joints. Others mistake the term “ASLO” to be a disease detectable in blood by various laboratory tests.
Jaundice is not joint-dice!
Jaundice (hyperbilirubinaemia) is a sign that a doctor observes on a patient when he/she has a higher than normal level of bilirubin or bile in the blood. It is characterized by a yellowish discoloration of the eyes and skin. When a doctor observes that the eyes (and sometimes the skin) of a patient have turned yellow, then the patient has jaundice as a sign. If the patient himself/herself tells a doctor that his/her eyes have turned abnormally yellow, then the patient has jaundice as a symptom.
Jaundice is caused by accumulation of excess bile (bilirubin) in the blood by abnormal processes that occur either before blood reaches the liver, in the liver or after the liver. The liver plays a vital role in the elimination of bilirubin from blood. Therefore, excess disruption/breakage of red blood cells (haemolysis), liver diseases and obstruction of bile flow from the liver can all cause jaundice. Obstruction of bile flow can be caused by diseases of the head, of the pancreas or the presence of a bile duct stone.
Prevention
Trying to prevent jaundice means that one will take care of one’s health in order to avoid conditions that lead to excess bile in the blood. Taking care of the liver by not drinking excess alcohol is a major way of preventing jaundice. Excess alcohol ingestion can damage the liver and also causes diseases like liver cirrhosis, alcoholic hepatitis and chronic pancreatitis.
Hepatitis B infection can damage the liver and lead to jaundice. Since this infection is sexually transmissible, one can prevent it by practising safe sexual intercourse or being monogamous.
Jaundice can be prevented in the new-born by visiting a doctor and taking blood tests during pregnancy, avoiding conditions that lead to preterm birth of a baby, frequently breastfeeding as it helps in the development of the liver.
You will know a little about ASLO in the next edition of The Green Vision!
