What causes jaundice? 5 causes of jaundice

Jaundice is one of the more common diseases in newborns. It is mainly caused by bilirubin metabolism disorder, which increases the serum bilirubin concentration in the child's body. It can usually be seen from the color of the newborn's skin and stool. There are many factors that cause neonatal jaundice, and parents need to treat it according to the severity of the child's jaundice.

Nowadays, many babies will develop jaundice at birth or a few days after birth. If you want the jaundice to subside as soon as possible, you must understand the specific cause. If it is physiological jaundice, it will usually subside on its own and does not require special treatment from the family. If it is pathological jaundice, symptomatic treatment is required and should not be underestimated. The main factors that cause jaundice are the following, and parents must know them.

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1. Jaundice caused by increased cell destruction is also called hemolytic jaundice. It is mainly caused by hemolytic disease caused by the mismatch of blood types between the mother and the baby. It usually occurs in ABO blood types. If the mother is type O blood and the baby is type A or B blood, it will cause jaundice, and the jaundice will be more severe than other babies.

2. Jaundice caused by breast milk. This is because breast milk contains the hormone progesterone, which inhibits the binding process of the baby's bilirubin, so that the bilirubin cannot be absorbed by the intestines and metabolized or excreted in time, so that the jaundice cannot disappear in time, and it may even take one or two months to disappear completely. Although it takes a long time, the baby will not have any discomfort symptoms, and the jaundice symptoms will generally disappear after stopping breastfeeding.

3. Jaundice caused by infection with some bacteria or viruses. When the baby is infected with a virus in the womb or after birth, the liver cell function is damaged and the jaundice is aggravated. The most common bacterial infection is sepsis, and the most common viral infections are hepatitis B virus and cytomegalovirus.

4. When a baby suffers from suffocation or hypoxia at birth and cannot eliminate meconium in time after birth, the jaundice will be more severe than other babies.

5. If the baby suffers from congenital intrahepatic duct atresia or extrahepatic biliary atresia, the time for jaundice to disappear will be delayed, usually until one and a half months after birth. During this period, the color of the baby's stool is white clay.

Jaundice is a common symptom in newborns. About 60% of children will have this symptom after birth. The severity of each child is different. After all, the factors that cause jaundice are different for each child. If parents find that their child has jaundice, they can make a basic judgment based on the time and severity of the occurrence. If it occurs rapidly and the child's skin, stool, and pupils are darker in color, they must go to the hospital for treatment.