Jaundice management may involve treating infectious causes and stopping medication that could be contributing. Among newborns, depending on age and prematurity, a bilirubin greater than 4–21 mg/dL (68-360 µmol/L) may be treated with phototherapy or exchanged transfusion. The itchiness may be helped by draining the gallbladder or ursodeoxycholic acid. The word "jaundice" is from the French "jaunisse", meaning "yellow disease". The main sign of jaundice is a yellowish discoloration of the white area of the eye and the skin. Urine is dark in colour. Slight increases in serum bilirubin are best detected by examining the sclerae, which have a particular affinity
Jaundice seen in the newborn, known as "neonatal jaundice", is common in newborns as hepatic machinery for the conjugation and excretion of bilirubin does not fully mature until approximately two weeks of age. Rat fever (leptospirosis) can also cause hepatic jaundice. In hepatic jaundice, there is invariably cholestasis. Defects in bilirubin metabolism also leads to jaundice, as in Gilbert's syndrome (a genetic disorder of bilirubin metabolism that can result in mild jaundice, which is found in about 5% of the population) and Crigler-Najjar syndrome, Type I and II. Laboratory findings depend on the cause of jaundice. Bilirubin transport across the hepatocyte