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 normal functioning of the metabolism and excretion of bilirubin just described, jaundice may be the result. Jaundice is classified into three categories, depending on which part of the physiological mechanism the pathology affects. The three categories are: "Pre-hepaticular" jaundice is caused by anything that causes an increased rate of hemolysis (breakdown of red blood cells). Unconjugated bilirubin comes from the breakdown of the heme pigment found in red blood cells' hemoglobin. The increased breakdown of red blood cells leads to an increase in the amount of unconjugated bilirubin present in the blood and deposition of this unconjugated bilirubin into various