Neonatal jaundice

Quite often, newly born crumbs, even in the walls of the hospital there is such a violation, as neonatal (transient) jaundice of newborns. This phenomenon is caused by the accumulation of excess bilirubin in the baby's blood . This substance can be a neurotoxic poison for the baby's body, which causes damage to both the cortex and subcortical nuclei of the brain - bilirubin encephalopathy.

What causes neonatal jaundice?

The reasons for the development of prolonged neonatal jaundice are not so many. Most often it is:

• immaturity of liver cells - hepatocytes, at the enzymatic level;
• intensified production of the body crumbs of bilirubin;
• a decrease in the ability of the blood to bind free bilirubin.

How is neonatal jaundice treated?

In most cases, this violation requires only observation by physicians. In this case, no therapy is carried out. However, in cases where the amount of bilirubin in neonatal jaundice of newborns exceeds all standards , treatment is prescribed. Recently, more often to combat this violation, use such a method as light therapy. Scientists have found that this effect contributes not only to the production of albumin, which reduces the concentration of bilirubin, but also the stabilization of cellular membranes of erythrocytes.

In addition to the above method, In the treatment of neonatal jaundice, immunoglobulins are also used, which are administered intravenously and in sufficiently large doses (500-1000 mg / kg). These structures, appearing in the blood, prevent the decay and damage of red blood cells, which is observed with an increase in the concentration of bilirubin.

Thus, the treatment of neonatal jaundice does not always require the hospitalization of the baby. The main factor in the entire therapeutic process is the control of the level of bilirubin in the blood. About his increase or decrease, the mother will be able to know from the intensity of the skin color of the baby in yellow. On average, this phenomenon lasts 7-10 days.