Digestive / VISUAL EXPLAINER
Why does your skin and the whites of your eyes turn yellow? π
Bilirubin buildup can tint tissues yellow. Bilirubin arises from heme breakdown and is normally processed by the liver and excreted in bile. Increased production, impaired liver processing or impaired bile drainage can each contribute.
READ THE IMAGE
What the illustration shows
A close-up eye has a blue iris, black pupil and yellow-tinted eye whites, with a skin-tint label below. A separate conceptual tissue inset shows gold pigment dots. A normal heme-to-bilirubin-to-liver-to-bile strip sits above three unnumbered alternative mechanism cards: greater production, impaired liver processing and impaired bile drainage. The caption states that appearance alone does not identify the cause. Navy/cyan background with gold AllHumanBody.com branding.
How to interpret this poster
- Appearance alone cannot identify cause; not all yellow coloration is jaundice or identical across skin tones. No neonatal scope, color diagnosis, thresholds, severity, treatment or reassurance.
- AI-assisted educational illustration; not physician certification, a diagnosis or individualized medical advice.
- Fine annotations require enlargement; preserve the full uncropped illustration and its qualifiers.
AI-assisted educational illustration, adapted into web-sized images without changing its composition. This is general education, not an individual diagnosis or treatment recommendation.
EVIDENCE / CONTEXT
Sources and what they support
- NIH News in Health: Recognizing jaundice β
Bilirubin, red-cell breakdown, skin/eye-white yellowing and multiple causes.
- Merck Manual Professional: Jaundice pathophysiology β
Production, hepatic processing and drainage mechanisms.