RBC broken down every 3months by spleen → Heme → Biliverdin → Bilirubin (no water soluble so albumin transports it to liver)
Conjugation in the liver → to make bilirubin water soluble so you can pee it out.
You can have jaundice and no liver issues eg haemolysis (lots of RBC breaking down)
Jaundice categorised into:
unconjugated - before bilirubin gets to liver
conjugated - problems with conjugation and secretion
Causes of jaundice
Liver Cirrhosis - scarring of liver with nodule formation lies down fibrous tissue
Chronic Liver Disease: jaundice, clotting gets affected, cannot detoxify blood (usually converts ammonia to urea. If not ammonia gets into blood and causes encephalopathy)
Portal Hypertension - blood cannot get through cirrhotic liver easily
Ascites - kidney fooled into thinking body needs more fluid so swollen belly