Question

Mr. Jefferies, age 42, was admitted to the hospital after a three-day drinking binge. He had severe epigastric pain, jaundice, fever, and vomiting. On physical examination the edge of the liver was felt 5 cm below the ribs. A biopsy of the liver indicated chronic alcoholic cirrhosis. The jaundice associated with this condition results from the release of a hepatic secretion into the bloodstream. This secretion, which is needed in digestion, is named

Answer 1

The hepatic secretion needed for the digestion is called bile, which helps in digestion and absorption of fat and fat soluble vitamines from intestine.

The composition of the bile include water, bile salt, bile pigment (bilirubine), cholesterol and several ions. Excess of bilirubin (one of the bile component) in the blood leads to yellowish discoloration of skin and mucus membrane is called Jaundice. In liver cirrhosis, damaged hepatic cell cannot remove bilirubin (one of the bile component) from the blood leads to Jaundice