Gilberts Syndrome

[louise jones]

Has anyone heard of this?  My cousin has been diagnosed with it and Ive read about it on netdoctor and it says there are no symptons to cause concern except sometimes the person could appear jaundicesd.  My cousin is 'sick' about three weeks out of every four!! With either headaches, bellyache, cold, flu etc.  Does anyone know if these are connected or is she just playing on the fact she has a 'syndrome'?!!

[keen2learn]

It's not all that uncommon; I know several people with it, including me, and we all lead normal, healthy lives. It's caused, as I understand it, by a liver enzyme abnormality. The symptoms it causes are very occasional bouts of lethargy, possible headache, and slightly jaundiced appearance, usually triggered by 'stressing' the liver by, for instance, overindulgence in alcohol or fasting. Colds shouldn't be connected with Gilberts.Only your cousin knows if she's exaggerating her symptoms for attention!

[AB Editor]

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