Conditions That Could Lead to Color Changes in the Body

2 months ago

Humans are not chameleons or octopuses and so we do not change our skin color but there are can be days you go out and you see people with certain colors and you wonder what could be wrong. It could be a sign of a health condition and sometimes it could just be harmless chemistry playing out as a result of certain things that occur in the body. So how could the body change colors and what could they mean?

If you eat beets very well, then you might have seen a temporary change in the color of your pee or feces to bright red. This condition is known as Beeturia, just after the name of the fruit and it happens when the red pigments of the beet which gives it the red color move through the digestive system to your pee and feces without digesting them. This is because the body is unable to digest this pigment and it is not harmful. Not all conditions are harmful or diseased health conditions.

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If you are taking beets for the first time, and you take a lot of it and your body is unable to digest the pigment, then you might be thinking you are peeing blood or having blood in your feces. This doesn't mean that when you eat beets you would surely experience beeturia because it happens in 1 out 10 people who cannot absorb food properly especially people with low stomach acid and low iron.

Have you heard that eating too many carrots can change the skin pigment to orange? Well!!! Technically it can happen which means it is true but it is very rare. Beta Carotene gives carrot the orange pigment it has and the body is very good at converting to vitamin A which is used to keep good vision as well as the immune system but when excessive carrot is eaten than the body's threshold, then the beta carotene would float in the blood and store in the fatty tissues of the skin.

The lipid at the top most surface of the skin absorb this pigment and it begins to show orange on the skin of the person in a condition known as Carotenemia which is usually evident in the palms or or soles of the feet. This condition is also not harmful and it will take a lot of carrots for this to happen. Carrots are not the only fruits that can cause these condition, fruits high in beta carotene are also able to cause it. Fruits like mangoes, sweet Potatoes, Spinach, and asparagus.

Some people could mistake Carotenemia for jaundice because they both will increase the skin yellowness but jaundice is the yellowing of the skin as a result of bilirubin buildup in the blood. Bilirubin is produced after red blood cells (hemoglobin) are broken down in the liver but are not able to continue conversion until they reach stercobilin and go with feces instead find way back into the blood.

Bilirubin can also be present in the blood because more red blood cells are dying that usual and the liver cannot move at such speed thereby leading to the buildup of bilirubin while another reason can be because the liver is unable to pass out the bilirubin as a result of liver problems which could be caused by gallstones, alcohol overuse and misuse, or viral hepatitis. The difference before Jaundice and Carotenemia is that Jaundice affect the sclera in the eyes and the inside of the mouth while carotenemia doesn't. If it is a case of jaundice, then the doctor should just be a call away.

For some people, it is the change in the sweat that comes out of their skin in different colors and this condition is known as Chromhidrosis. The color can be black, green, blue, or yellow. People can get green chromhidrosis after ingesting copper which then dissolves into their sweat and with it combines with oxygen it becomes copper oxide which is green in color. Some food dye can cause it but for these to occur, you would need to consume a whole lot. People can also sweat bilirubin out of the body when it is excessive and when it leaves via sweat it becomes oxidized giving a green color biliverdin which can be a sign that should be taken care off immediately.

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Looking at color change in the part of the body, let me discuss blue sclera. While the sclera is generally white in people, some people can have blue sclera. made up of collagen fibres which is usually opaque and its fibre gives the sclera its stiffness but there can be conditions that will make the sclera thin allowing the inner blue part of the eyes (uvea) to show through the sclera. Conditions like Brittle bone disease is one of the conditions that thins out the sclera. Other conditions that can lead to blue color of the sclera include marfan syndrome, and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. Iron deficiency can also lead to blue sclera as collagen isn't going to be produced efficiently.

While some skin color changes can be harmless, a lot of them night need you to go check yourself at the hospital. While this is not common in everyone, it is important that once you notice any change in your body, you should visit the hospital

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2 months ago

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