yellow whites of eyes in 8 mo

[coleyboy]

ds has started to develop a yellow tinge to the whites of his eyes. I'm guessing this is jaundice and has something to do with low iron levels.
Has anyone else experienced this, and how did they treat it?

If you suspect jaundice I would suggest you get to a gp.

info

Thanks for that.

Have got an appointment with the GP tomorrow. I think it may have something to do with the fact that he has been self-weaning himself from the breast. I think I will have to up his red meat and spinach intake.

I didn't think jaundice was anything to do with iron deficiency - where on earth did you hear that?

There are different types of jaundice, one of which can be caused by anaemia (which I have suffered with in the past).

ah, not heard of that one - I was coming at it from the hepatic angle. Got a reference?

Mrs Badger:

Haemolytic jaundice - too much bilirubin is produced. This is usually caused by excessive breakdown of red blood cells. This can be due to a number of conditions such as anaemia or a problem with the metabolism

ooh, interesting - my microbiology muscles immediately say 'hepatitis' and I forget about the autoimmune and metabolic stuff.

But heamolytic anaemia is not usually associated with iron deficicy AFAIK.

Anaemia means reduced blood count which is most commonly caused by iron deficiency. Haemolytic anaemia is a reduced blood count as a result of too many red blood cells being degraded. It can be treated with iron supplements as this helps make more red blood cells to compensate for the degradation.

I agree that yellow whites of eyes can indicate jaundice which needs to be treated. But there are many many causes of jaundice, most of which are related to liver function.

Oh blimey, it's all getting a bit technical for me.

Hopefully the GP will get to the bottom of it.

Thats what the GP is there for.

Hope things are OK...