Recycled pigment is processed and leaves in bile
Biomarker library
Liver Health
Total bilirubin
Bilirubin is the yellow pigment made when old red blood cells are broken down. The liver processes it and sends it into bile, which gives stool its brown colour.
Measured in your health assessment, with a doctor to explain your result. Book yours
Why it matters
When bilirubin builds up, the skin and the whites of the eyes turn yellow (jaundice). Mild rises are very common and often harmless.
What a result can mean
Lower than the range
A low bilirubin is not a concern. Interestingly, people with slightly higher levels, such as those with Gilbert's syndrome, tend to have lower cardiovascular risk, because bilirubin is an antioxidant.
Higher than the range
The commonest cause of a mildly raised bilirubin is Gilbert's syndrome, a harmless inherited trait affecting about 1 in 20 people, which shows up more with fasting or illness. Other causes include liver disease, blocked bile ducts and faster breakdown of red cells.
What can help
Gilbert's syndrome needs no treatment. Other causes are investigated with the liver enzymes, a blood count and sometimes a scan.
Read it with
NoteGeneral educational illustration. Colours, sizes and movement are simplified. This is not a scan or a simulation of your body. General information, not personal medical advice: a doctor reads your own results with your history.
Know your total bilirubin.
Measured in your health assessment and explained by the doctor who reviews your results.