Overview

Jaundice is when your skin and the whites of your eyes turn yellow. It can be a sign of something serious, such as liver disease, so you need to get urgent medical help.

Title
Jaundice

Symptoms

See a GP urgently if:

  • your skin and the whites of your eyes look yellow

You may also have itchy skin, darker wee and paler poo than usual.

Yellowed skin is a symptom of jaundice

The whites of your eyes may also look yellow

Causes

aundice is caused by the build-up in your body of a yellow substance called bilirubin.

There are lots of possible reasons for this and some of them are serious. They include:

  • gallstones
  • alcoholic liver disease
  • pancreatitis
  • hepatitis
  • sickle cell disease
Treatment

Treatments for jaundice depend on what's causing it.