How to Treat Jaundice Problems Naturally

How to Treat Jaundice Problems Naturally

Premature infants whose skins turn yellowish with jaundice during their first days of life are being helped by vitamin E. The problem, caused by a buildup in the blood of the orange bile pigment bilirubin, can occur when the babies' red blood cells break down too rapidly or if the liver is too immature to dissolve the pigment so that it can be excreted as bile.

To treat the condition, hospitals rely on phototherapy — placing the new-born under special near-ultraviolet lights that break down excess bilirubin in the skin. However, the light can also destroy riboflavin (vitamin B2) causing a nutritional deficit, and the eyes of the infants must be carefully protected while under the lights.

A study at the Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina has shown that injections of vitamin E during the first three days of life significantly lowered bilirubin levels in ten premature infants. By the fifth day, levels of the pigment were an average of 30 per cent lower than in ten other babies who got no vitamin E (Pediatric Research).

One of the investigators, Dr. Steven J. Gross (who is now director of newborn medicine at Boston City Hospital in Massachusetts), said that the vitamin also shortened the amount of time the infants had to spend under the lights. According to Dr. Gross, vitamin E slows down the accelerated destruction of red blood cells.