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Home Remedies For Jaundice In Adults

Jaundice

Jaundice is a yellow discoloration of skin, conjunctiva and urine. Jaundice is a symptom caused by underlying liver disease. Jaundice causes skin and whites of the eyes (conjunctiva) turn yellow. Jaundice is caused by several illnesses involving liver and blood. Thus, jaundice is a sign of blood or liver diseases. The yellow discoloration of skin, eyes and urine is caused by high level of bilirubin in blood.

Home Remedies For Jaundice In Adults

What is Jaundice?

Jaundice is a medical condition that is presented as a yellow discoloration of skin and conjunctiva of eyeball. The symptoms are associated with yellow discoloration of urine and pale feces. The yellow discoloration is caused by excessive bilirubin deposits in skin and conjunctiva of eyes. Urine color changes yellow because higher amount urobilirubin is discharged or excreted in urine. Similarly, blockage of bile duct causes less bilirubin in stool that results in pale feces.

Symptoms of Jaundice

What Causes Yellow Discoloration of Skin and Eye Jaundice?

The yellow color of the skin and eye ball is caused by bilirubin deposits in skin and conjunctiva of eyes.

Normal Bilirubin Level in Normal Situation-

The red blood cells breaks down in 7 days. Red blood cell contains hemoglobin. The function of hemoglobin in red blood cells is to carry oxygen. Hemoglobin breaks down into bilirubin and bilirubin from blood is then removed by liver. Liver excretes bilirubin in bile and bile is discharged into intestine. Some bilirubin from intestine gets absorbed as urobilinogen and then discarded in urine.

Bilirubin Level is Found High in Liver and Gall Bladder Disease-

  • Hemolysis- Excessive breakdown of red blood cells produces lot more bilirubin than liver can metabolized and discard in bile and then intestine.
  • Liver Disease- Serious liver disease causes decreased number of normal functional liver cells. The liver is unable to remove all normal secreted amount of bilirubin. That results in increase bilirubin blood level.
  • Gall Bladder Disease And Bile Duct Obstruction- Bilirubin level also increases when liver is unable to discard bilirubin in bile as in gall bladder disease and bile duct block. Bile duct block is cause by scarring of bile duct and impacted stone.

What is the Function Of Liver?

The human body goes through normal wear and tear of cells and tissue. Liver is a detoxifying organ.

  • Metabolism- Liver detoxifies and metabolizes fat, carbohydrate, protein, medication and chemicals.
  • Excretion- Metabolite product, bilirubin, cholesterol and hormone.
  • Avoid dairy products.
  • Enzyme activation- Liver activates several enzymes.
  • Glycogen Storage-Liver stores glucose as glycogen. Glucose is converted to glycogen.
  • Glycogen to Glucose- Liver converts stored glycogen back to glucose when body need to produce more energy to support activities.
  • Storage of Vitamin and Mineral- organs- Liver stores and activates vitamin and mineral.
  • Synthesis of Plasma Protein and Clotting Factor- Liver produces plasma protein and clotting factors.

What Causes Liver Malfunction That Results In Jaundice?

Liver malfunction decreases or shuts down all above described lever function. The liver malfunction is caused by liver infection, autoimmune diseases, genetic abnormalities and alcohol toxicity. Liver malfunction causes increase level of bilirubin.

Cause Of Liver Malfunction-

  • Infection- Hepatitis A, B and C
  • Alcohol liver toxicity
  • Autoimmune disease- Autoimmune hepatitis, sclerosing cholangitis and biliary cirrhosis.
  • Genetic disorder- Wilson’s disease and hemochromatosis
  • Liver Cancer– Hepato-carcinoma and biliary carcinoma

Symptoms of Jaundice

Liver viral infection causes fever; otherwise most liver diseases causes following symptoms-

  • Fever
  • Nausea and vomiting
  • Headache,
  • Constipation,
  • Loss of weight and feeling fatigue,
  • Fever,
  • Jaundice- Yellow skin and conjunctival discoloration,
  • Abdominal pain– Pain is mostly observed on right side under the lower ribs,
  • Itching– The skin itches because of bilirubin deposits in skin,
  • Dark yellow urine,
  • Pale stool and
  • Bruising- Increase bruising is caused by decrease secretion of clotting factors.

Causes of Jaundice

Home Remedies for Jaundice in Adults

Symptoms resulting from various illnesses including liver diseases, such as infection, genetic disorder or autoimmune diseases are treated with medications. Medications causes side effects. Side effects like nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and pain are irritable symptoms but occasionally few medications may cause side effects that is life threatening. All medications prescribed in USA are approved by federal agency known as “Food & Drug Administration”. But products used as home remedies are not investigated, studied or regulated by government authorities. The risk involved can be substantial. But most home remedy products discussed in this article are safe, since most are consumed sometime by most individuals. More and more such products are available and used by several individuals suffering with various symptoms. None of these products are investigated or studied in control group of patients. The article does not recommend any home remedies for any disease, but just presents the remedies which are discussed in medical as well as general literatures and publications. We suggest that you must discussed with your primary care physician or specialist before considering home remedy for treatment of jaundice.

What is a Home Remedy?

Home remedies are product that is consumed as a food or herbal and homeopathic medications. These products are found to be effective to treat certain illnesses and does gives relief from symptoms. Such treatment is often identified as home remedies. Most literature considers these products as safe. Individuals recommending the product as home remedy also substantiate the product as safe and helps to relieve symptoms. Such opinion comes from experience of another person who had consumed these product as home remedy. Such products often have been tried by friends, one of the family member or one of the senior citizen we all know. Liver disease like viral infection as well as autoimmune diseases affecting liver have been treated with home remedies.

When Should You Consult Physician?

You must consult your doctor as soon as you recognized jaundice. You should not try home remedies until you are completely investigated and cause of jaundice is found. Your alternative treatment must be approved by your treating physician.

Are There Any Published Document That Suggests Home Remedy Is Effective And Useful For Jaundice In Adults?

Few home remedies had been studied in real control patients. Most studies are retrospective and not control binded studies. Home remedy is always advised by a person or family member who had experienced its benefits. Some home remedies may work as placebo and may not in reality give any benefits.

Listed Below Are The Home Remedies For Jaundice In Adults:

  1. Lemon Juice1– Lots of water and lemon juice helps to repair damage liver cells.
  2. Tomato Juice- Have a glass of tomato juice with a little salt and pepper early in the morning. Tomato juice contains variety of bioactive ingredients and helps to improve symptoms like fatigue and tiredness.2
  3. Sugarcane Juice- Another very popular remedy is consuming lime with sugarcane juice twice every day. Sugarcane juice is widely used in jaundice in India and benefits is been documented in published articles.3
  4. Raddish Leaf Juice- Consume radish leaf juice daily to get relief from jaundice. Raddish extract is found to decrease hepatotoxicity in published research.4
  5. Almonds and cardamom mixture- Soak 6-8 almonds, 5 cardamoms, 2 dry dates in water for a night and then peel the almonds and make a paste of all three ingredients and consume it. The published study suggests consumption of almond prevents increase of liver enzyme in liver disease.5
  6. Drink half cup beet root juice daily- Literature suggests beet root juice helps to improve blood supply to organs and reduces oxygen use. The result is improved energy and individual suffering with liver disease feels improved energy production.6
  7. Lemon leaves- Boil 10-12 lemon leaves in water. Boil for 5 minutes and drink the solution.
  8. Diet- People suffering from jaundice are suggested to consume foods like sweet potatoes, nuts and soya beans and grapes
  9. Watermelon- Consuming of water melon and plums are also essential for healing jaundice.
  10. Gooseberry juice- Gooseberry juice is known to be quite helpful in treating Jaundice. 1 teaspoon of Indian gooseberry juice mixed with water to be taken daily. Gooseberry juice is widely used for treatment of jaundice. Gooseberry contains Phyllanthus emblica that reduces symptoms of jaundice.7
  11. Pomegranate- Eating Pomegranate or consuming its juice is known to be very helpful for Jaundice patients.
  12. Azadirachta Indica: Juice of crushed handful leaves of Azadirachta indica mixed with water to be taken daily.
  13. Liv 52- Some other options like Ayurveda medicines named Liv.52 are very effective and it helps to recover from the disease smoothly. It is very important to take care of your diet and follow what is being recommended until you recover from jaundice.
  14. Rest and avoid stress- Also please make sure that too do not take much stress or tension. Excessive workout like walking too fast or lifting heavy things can be dangerous for the liver because the blood which is required by the body for digestion is diverted towards other activities.

Jaundice Precautions in Adults:

  • Avoid alcohol- It is very important to avoid alcohol if you have been diagnosed as having Jaundice. Alcohol is dangerous for Jaundice patients as it can complicate the condition further leading to some serious complications.
  • Carbonated drink and soda- Avoid soft drinks or carbonated drinks.
  • Dairy product- Avoid dairy products.
  • Sharing needles- Intravenous drug addict often share needle and syringe. If one of the individual is suffering with hepatitis, then viruses are transmitted from unhealthy individual to healthy individual.
  • Tattoos and Body Piercing- The needle and instrument used for body piercing may get contaminated if used in patient suffering with hepatitis.
  • Blood Transfusion- Hepatitis A, B and C viruses are transmitted from infected individual to healthy individual when blood transfusion is given.
  • Avoid High protein diet- Avoid daily high quantity of meat, once you are diagnosed with jaundice
  • Non-protein diet- Avoid all kinds of spicy food, oily food and fatty food.

Jaundice is a dreadful disease which can happen to all age groups. To protect an individual from jaundice, every human should focus on their diet and well balanced meals habits which is wellness nourishing and easily digestible.

References:  

  1. Citrus Fruit Intake Is Associated with Lower Serum Bilirubin Concentration among Women with the UGT1A1*28 Polymorphism1–3

    Misty R. Saracino,4,5 Jeannette Bigler,4 Yvonne Schwarz,4 Jyh-Lurn Chang,4 Shiuying Li,4 Lin Li,4 Emily White,4,5John D. Potter,4 and Johanna W. Lampe4,5,*, J Nutr. 2009 Mar; 139(3): 555–560.

  2. Tomato juice intake increases resting energy expenditure and improves hypertriglyceridemia in middle-aged women: an open-label, single-arm study

    Asuka Hirose,1 Masakazu Terauchi,2 Moe Tamura,1 Mihoko Akiyoshi,1 Yoko Owa,1 Kiyoko Kato,1 andToshiro Kubota1, Nutr J. 2015; 14: 34.

  3. Phytochemical profile of sugarcane and its potential health aspects

    Amandeep SinghUma Ranjan Lal,1 Hayat Muhammad Mukhtar,2 Prabh Simran Singh,3 Gagan Shah, and Ravi Kumar Dhawan4, Pharmacogn Rev. 2015 Jan-Jun; 9(17): 45–54.

  4. Effects of White Radish (Raphanus sativus) Enzyme Extract on Hepatotoxicity

    Sang Wha Lee,3 Kwang Mo Yang,1 Jung Ki Kim,1 Byung Hyouk Nam,1 Chang Min Lee,2 Min Ho Jeong,3Su Yeong Seo,3 Gi Yong Kim,3 and Wol-Soon Jo1, Toxicol Res. 2012 Sep; 28(3): 165–172.

  5. A Randomized Controlled Trial of the Effects of an Almond-enriched, Hypocaloric Diet on Liver Function Tests in Overweight/Obese Women

    Zohreh Abazarfard,1 Ghazaleh Eslamian,2 Mousa Salehi,1,*and Sareh Keshavarzi3, Iran Red Crescent Med J. 2016 Mar; 18(3): e23628.

  6. Dietary Supplements for Exercise and Athletic Performance

    https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/ExerciseAndAthleticPerformance-HealthProfessional/

  7. Therapeutic potential of Phyllanthus emblica (amla): the ayurvedic wonder.

    Krishnaveni M1Mirunalini S., J Basic Clin Physiol Pharmacol. 2010;21(1):93-105.

Also Read:

Team PainAssist
Team PainAssist
Written, Edited or Reviewed By: Team PainAssist, Pain Assist Inc. This article does not provide medical advice. See disclaimer
Last Modified On:June 10, 2019

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