What are the effects of jaundice on your baby's health?
In most cases, jaundice is not a cause for concern. However, if your baby's bilirubin level is too high (because no treatment has been taken to control jaundice and bilirubin levels continue to rise), it can cause permanent damage to your baby's nervous system. Very few newborn babies who develop jaundice develop a condition called kernicterus (also called bilirubin encephalopathy), which causes deafness, developmental delays or a form of cerebral palsy.
How to distinguish physiological jaundice from pathological jaundice in children
1. The time of jaundice is different in the morning and evening
Physiological jaundice appears late, generally more than 2~3 days after birth, jaundice appears in full-term infants, and it will reach a peak in 4~5 days.prematureJaundice occurs more than 3~5 days after birth, and reaches a peak in 5~7 days.
Pathological jaundice occurs relatively early, and jaundice has already appeared at birth or within 24 hours after birth.
2. Jaundice varies in scope and severity
Physiological jaundice is mild, usually gradually subsides within 7~10 days after birth, generally no more than 2 weeks.prematureJaundice usually resolves a little later, usually taking 3~4 weeks to subside. In general, physiologic jaundice is confined to the face, neck, and trunk, or extends to the proximal extremities; The yellowing of the skin is mild, and there is rarely significant jaundice on the palms and soles of the feet.
The degree of pathological jaundice is more severe, in addition to the yellowing of the skin of the face, trunk, and limbs, the skin of the palms and soles of the feet will also turn yellow. Moreover, pathological jaundice progresses quickly, and the skin may turn much yellow within a day. And the yellowing of the skin lasts for a long time, full-term babies will last for more than 2 weeks or more, and premature babies may last for more than 3~4 weeks.The yellowing of the skin in children with pathological jaundice will lessen and then worsen, and it may not gradually decrease like physiological jaundice, but may subside and reappear.
3. Other accompanying symptoms are different
Physiological jaundice, the urine color is slightly yellow, but the diaper is not yellow, and the color of the stool is not light. Generally, the baby is in good condition and has no obvious symptoms of discomfort.
Babies with pathological jaundice may also be accompanied by obvious mental and appetite problems, such as reluctance to feed, poor sucking ability, lack of energy, or screaming, convulsions, or vomiting, diarrhea, fever or low body temperature, or pale stool, liver and spleen enlargement, etc.