What causes yellow eye color or jaundice in sickle cell patients?
The yellow color of his eyes is due to his sickle cell disease. The sickle red blood cells break down quickly as the blood moves around the body, and the hemoglobin released from the red blood cells is converted to bilirubin, which has a yellow-orange color. The bilirubin is normally cleared out of the body through the liver and then out the kidney into the urine. People with sickle cell disease have more bilirubin than normal people. If you see his eyes getting more dark yellow than usual, the first thing to try is to give more water to drink and flush the bilirubin out the kidneys by urinating more. That extra fluid passing through his body should make the eyes a lighter yellow color. If the yellow does not get back to usual with more water, then probably something is making the red blood cells break down faster than normal. This could be caused by infection or sickle red blood cells getting trapped in lungs or other parts of the body, and he may need to get to a doctor. Dental Work
