How Long After Jaundice Is Death (And Why)?

Exact Answer: After about 4-6 months

Our body performs numerous functions every day. Digestion of food is one important function among those. The process of digestion of food requires some reactants at the beginning of the process. At the end of the process, these processes release some waste materials which should be eliminated by the body.

Bilirubin is one of those waste products produced as a result of the process of digestion. It determines the colour of the skin. An excessive amount of this waste product leads to the pale colour of the skin, thereby leading to few abnormalities in the body. Such a condition is known as jaundice when the skin, eyes and body turns yellow.

The fluids of the body, including blood, may also turn yellow. It has even lead to death in adverse cases. People of any gender and sex can suffer from jaundice. It is the consequence of some abnormalities of liver and bile ducts.

How Long After Jaundice Is Death?

Jaundice is mainly caused due to the excess deposition of bilirubin in our body. It may be even caused due to the malfunctioning of the liver or bile ducts. Due to the excess levels of bilirubin present in the blood, the skin including the white portion of the eye starts turning yellowish in colour. This condition is also known as icterus.

The function of the liver is to clean our body by filtering out the toxic substances present in our body. When bilirubin is produced in high amounts, it approaches the liver. While approaching the liver, it gets massed up with other toxic substances and chemicals harmful to our body thereby resulting in conjugated bilirubin.

This conjugated bilirubin hinders the production of bile by the liver for digestion of food thereby turning it brown. The presence of excess waste material may lead to other unwanted consequences like leakage leading to neighbouring topics. This condition leads to the yellow appearance of skin.

Jaundice may be due to the consequence of the secretion of excess bilirubin produced by the body. It can also be due to the incapacity of the liver to filter bilirubin. In both cases, the result would be the extra deposition of bilirubin in the body and blood thereby leading to jaundice. There even maybe some other serious health conditions which would result in jaundice.

The inflammation in the liver may make the liver incompetent to secrete the waste material, thereby resulting in its deposition. The inflammation in the bile duct can cause hindrance in the formation of bile, thereby resulting in the deposition of bilirubin. The medical condition termed hemolytic anaemia may lead to excess production of bilirubin due to the mass destruction of red blood cells of the blood.

Why Does A Person Die So Early After Jaundice?

Apart from all, some inherited diseases like Gilbert’s Syndrome may even lead to jaundice by destroying the enzymes which help in the process of bile excretion. Some other conditions like cholestasis which interferes with the passage of the bile to and from the liver may even result in jaundice. Jaundice has taken many lives since ancient times. Hence, one should be careful to detect it at the earliest stage to get adequate treatment and get cured.

The symptoms of jaundice include paleness in stools, dark colour of urine and itchiness. The yellowish appearance of skin and other parts of the body is the most widely found symptom of jaundice. Some additional symptoms include pain in the abdomen, tirelessness, fatigue, weight loss, fever and vomiting. Sometimes, the situations may get completed depending on the reason behind jaundice.

There are three major types of jaundice, depending on their stage and severity. Hepatocellular jaundice may be the result of any kind of liver disease. The hemolytic jaundice results in the large destruction of RBCs. Obstructive jaundice is the most serious type of jaundice which may be due to hindrances in the passage of bile.

The bilirubin test and other medical tests are used to diagnose jaundice in a patient. The liver functioning test is a major one that is unavoidable and the most significant among all. The blood count tests and tests for hepatitis is also done in cases when the doctor finds difficulty in knowing the reason behind the condition. Ultrasounds, X- Rays, MRIs and other tests are also done to detect the reason behind jaundice with accuracy.

Jaundice is accompanied by itching in major cases which is not only irritating but also painful. It leads to painful sleepless nights and patients even attempt suicide out of frustration. The complications get severe depending on the reason behind the condition. Early treatment of jaundice can save the patient’s life by early medication.

Conclusion

Treatment of jaundice at its earliest stage is very crucial to save the life of the patient. In the case of hemolytic jaundice, having food items rich in iron is the foremost step. Other medical treatments like iv rehydration along with blood transfusion are also helpful for the patient. In the case of hepatocellular jaundice, intravenous antibiotics will prove to be a boon along with a diet with low protein content.

In the case of obstructive jaundice, surgery is the most important step. During the surgery, the stones in the gall bladder are removed. The surgery may also result in the replacement of the gall bladder. The surgery depends on the reason behind jaundice.

Early treatment of any disease can treat it. Similarly, if the person is given adequate treatment after the diagnosis, then his/her life can be saved. However, death is inevitable and in some cases, death is common. But one should take all the medicines following the advice of the doctor and should try hard to survive and struggle against this deadly disease.

Reference

1. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673683928635
2. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168827808007940