A yellow pigment that can be found in the blood of every person and their stool is known as bilirubin. The blood test to determine the level of bilirubin in the body is known as the bilirubin blood test. The liver sometimes cannot keep a control over the level of bilirubin in the body.
The cause can be any – some obstruction, an excess of bilirubin in the body or an inflammation of the liver. When there is too much bilirubin in the body, the whites of the eyes and the skin starts to become yellow. This condition is known as jaundice. The bilirubin test would help to determine if any of the conditions are present. The bilirubin is produced by the breaking down of the haemoglobin in the old red blood cells. The breakdown is a normal and healthy process. The bilirubin would then travel to the liver after circulation in the blood. The bilirubin is processed in the liver. It gets mixed into the bile in the liver. They then get excreted through the bile ducts and is stored in the gallbladder.
What is Bilirubin Test
The bile is a digestive juice that gets released into the small intestine. It helps in the digestion of fats. They then pass out through the stool. The bilirubin might be attached by the liver to glucuronic acid. This is an acid which is derived from glucose. It is known as conjugated or direct bilirubin. If it is not attached to glucuronic acid, it is known as indirect bilirubin. The entire bilirubin in the blood is known as total bilirubin. When the comprehensive bilirubin blood test is performed, all the three bilirubin levels in the blood are shown – indirect, direct and total. The symptoms related to high bilirubin would involve jaundice in adults as well as children. This would involve a yellowing of the eyes and skin. It is generally accompanied with low appetite, an itchy skin, fatigue and dark urine.
What is Anti CCP Test
The anti CCP test would look for the levels of anti-CCP in the blood. These are a type of antibody and are produced by the immune system. However, they target the own tissues of the body.
What are the common reasons to test for bilirubin?
If the bilirubin is being attached to the glucuronic acid or the glucose-derived acid in the liver or if it is not being adequately removed from the blood, it might mean that there could be some damage to the liver. Thus testing for liver damage can be done quite easily by testing for bilirubin in the blood. Newborns might be suffering from a mild form of jaundice. This could be the first sign of a medical problem or the normal changes in the metabolism of bilirubin. The blood of the infant might need to be tested several times in the first few days if the level at birth is too high. Proper monitoring of the liver function is important. In a newborn, jaundice could be quite serious and threaten life.
Another reason which could lead to high levels of bilirubin could be that there are more blood cells being destroyed in the liver than what is being created. This process is known as hemolysis. Sometimes bilirubin could be measured as a part of a ‘panel’ of tests. The liver can be evaluated with a group of tests.
What preparations should be taken for the test?
It is important not to drink or eat anything other than water for about 4 hours before the test is performed. The usual amount of water can be drunk before visiting the clinic. Certain medications might be needed to be stopped. Certain sedatives and antibiotics might affect the levels of bilirubin in the blood.
What is Weil Felix Test
The collection of blood for the Weil Felix test is done much in the same way as this. There are minimal risks to the collection of a blood sample.
What should the results be?
The normal values of direct bilirubin in the blood should be somewhere around 0 to 0.4 mg/dL. The normal total values should be somewhere between 0.3 and 1 mg/dL.
Thus the bilirubin test would offer insight into the levels of bilirubin in the blood at present.
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