Jaundice in Newborns

Recently I have a brother who had their first baby born. After a few weeks the baby had continued problems with jaundice and after some tests it appears the baby may have Biliary Atresia. This post is here to help others out there searching about extended jaundice and to not take it lightly. Although the disease is very rare (1 in 10000 newborns) it is fatal if not caught. The chances of the child recovering are significantly increased the earlier it is caught, below are some quotes and links.

The first two links below are a good starting point.

Biliary Atresia Overview

Biliary Atresia

Nearly a decade later, funds raised through a foundation the Meehans established in their son’s name have fueled a research discovery that may one day help give children like Zachary a future. Hopkins Children’s researchers, led by Maria Grazia Clemente and sponsored by the Zachary Meehan Biliary Atresia Research Foundation at Johns Hopkins, have discovered that a rotavirus (SA11), known to cause the disease in mice, also grows in human bile duct cells and normal liver cells. “In the lab, those infected cells became spectacularly malformed, which is exactly what happens in biliary atresia,” says Kathleen Schwarz, M.D., director of the Pediatric Liver Center at Hopkins Children’s and senior author of the study. “We’ve known a lot about its inflammatory process, but not what causes it. This may be about to change.”
source: http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/tpl_news.aspx?id=4944

Growth Failure and Outcomes in Infants with Biliary Atresia: A Report from the Biliary Atresia Research Consortium
source: http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/researchDetail.aspx?id=5310

Our biggest recommendation after years of health problems with one of our children is do not wait on your doctor to figure things out but do your own research and be open to alternative health but always keep a critical eye.

May 2010 be a healthy and happy new year for you!