How long do you have to live once your eyes and skin are a bright yelow from a liver disease?

You have asked an interesting question but there is really a lot more I would want to know to give you the best answer!

The yellow color seen in the eyes and skin that is associated with liver disease means that the liver is not able to break down a pigment that we have in our blood called bilirubin. We all have some bilirubin in our system however our liver normally keeps the level quite low. When the level increases, we start to develop “jaundice”, the medical term for the yellow color.

The first issue is the cause of the liver disease. Most types of liver disease cause damage slowly over a period of time such as excessive alcohol or chronic forms of hepatitis. If the jaundice is due to cancer in the liver, that would obviously be far worse than another cause.

A second issue is how the person is caring for themselves. If they do something that continues to injure the liver, they may deteriorate a lot faster than if they take good care of themselves. An example would be a person who has a damaged liver and who still consumes alcohol.

A third issue that comes to mind is the treatment that the person is receiving. Liver disease is sometimes due to chronic viral infection for which there is several types of anti-viral treatment. In some patients, liver transplantation is used. Some cancers may respond to cancer treatment even if the cancer involves the liver.

Hopefully I have given you some information that may help answer your question. Whatever the original cause of the liver damage, the individual can often make a very large difference in how long they survive.

Thank you for your question.

Dr. Joshua Rassen

-- Joshua Rassen, MD, is a board-certified internist and geriatrician in northern California. He has a private practice in geriatrics and internal medicine and is the Chief of the Division of General Internal Medicine at California Pacific Medical Center.

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